<p>My 85-year old mother has one small dog. Our houses are in similar areas, though she has a bit more woods near her. In the past few weeks she’s found 72 (!!) ticks, either on her dog or crawling on the rug. She uses Frontline, so maybe they bite or crawl on him then drop off? At least they are dog ticks and not deer ticks.</p>
<p>We, on the other hand, live less than 10 minutes away, have three dogs, and have found only one tick all spring – go figure.</p>
<p>Do ticks actually live in trees?? Ewe. I thought they were just in the brush, tall grass, etc. Worst case of ticks I ever had was hiking in the Southampton (NY) dwarf pine barrens. Must have gotten 16 or 17 tiny deer ticks off my jeans. Had the heebie-jeebies for days.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my younger son woke up complaining to my older son that his shoulder hurt. My older son went to the freezer and retrieved the “boo boo bear” they used for “owies” when they were small - basically a bear shaped ice pack. When I noticed younger son holding the pack to his shoulder, I investigated further, and found that an enormous tick had burrowed most of the way under his skin. I’d never actually seen a tick before, and at first thought that it was some kind of enormous spider - all that was really visible were a few legs protruding from the wound. I still count this discovery as one of the more horrible experiences of my life. I panicked, and tried pulling it out, but only managed to pull off some of its legs. The doctor had better luck.</p>
<p>I have a friend who had a tick on his head after a deer ran into the side of his car, smashing the door and side window.</p>
<p>Two stories to illustrate my tick phobia:</p>
<p>1) Living in 1st apartment with H over 21 years ago. Went to a ranch for a company picnic. Nice cool spring day wearing a white racer tshirt under a long sleeved shirt. Came home, removed the over-shirt and discovered undershirt heavily dotted with tiny ticks. After thoroughly searching every possible area for ticks I made the management bomb for ticks TWICE.</p>
<p>2) My office just a few years ago. Found 1 giant, but bloodless, tick on the wall. Disposed of tick. Had the office bombed for ticks TWICE.</p>
<p>Those little bloodsuckers gross me out (beat out only a small margin by the lowly disgusting cockroach). This thread and this post are making me itch.</p>
<p>^^^It’s really not necessary to ‘bomb’ a place for ticks. Fleas, on the other hand…</p>
<p>I’m convinced that some humans are tick attractors. My H can barely go anywhere without getting ticks, whereas I won’t have any. I was just thinking of putting some Frontline on his back between his shoulder blades! He has found ticks in his belly button, between his toes, his armpits, you name it.</p>
<p>Yeah–we live where you pretty much check yourself every day if you’ve been walking in any tall grass/woodsy areas. The pediatrician told us this when we first moved here to keep this up through the summer. Important to check the hiding places–behind ears, under armpits, up in the groin. Ticks tend to get on you, travel up, then get their heads in. I understand it’s about 24 hours before they actually start feeding, so a nightly check is all that’s needed.</p>
<p>I’ve heard many many ideas about removing them–vaseline, alcohol, cigarette (one case of a poor kid at a military hospital years ago where one young doc did the alcohol thing and another came in the room and did the cigarette thing–yikes). The one I read that makes the most sense and that we always use is to get some tweezers, grab hold of the lil guy, and pull for about 60 seconds. That’ll get him to release, so you don’t leave the head embedded. After that minute, you can pull him out. </p>
<p>I can also tell you ticks are sneaky–I swear they will play dead when you try to smush them. I used to grind them up with a rock (with absolutely no remorse) but now I just flush 'em.</p>
<p>I got Lyme disease 8 yrs ago from a tick and I was living in the SE area of NC, a sandy area not woodsy and grassy.</p>
<p>To get a tick out, the best way is to cover it with vaseline, and then remove it using tweezers. Make sure you get the head out. Also, do not worry about the tick if when you remove it and the body is flat, if it is bulbous, then go to the doc the next day, no need for ER. You want to go because the body has taken your blood and that is how Lyme disease occurs. </p>
<p>I had it on my back, and Bullet removed it, about a week later I was waking up with the sheets soaking wet and felt like I had the flu. We didn’t think Lyme, because it was red, but we thought since he had to dig it out, the site was infected. Sure enough it was Lyme.</p>
<p>This yr in VA we are fighting them, I think it is because we have had a mild wet spring so they are multiplying quickly. The kids know to check themselves when they come in. We live on 10 acres, but it is all mowed, so it is not tall grass, and right now in the last 3 weeks or so, I would say everybody has had at least 1 or 2 ticks, except for DD, including me. I am outside planting in the mulch flower beds or walking the dogs, not in grass. Of course the dogs have frontline, so they have had none.</p>
<p>Any frontline for humans?</p>
<p>Okay, this is really true. When I sat down at my computer just now to turn it on, there was a TICK crawling across the screen!!! We monitored our bluebird trail last night, I am sure it hitched a ride home from there. He has been crushed and flushed…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think that CC is taking this “targeted advertising” too seriously! :)</p>
<p>When the kids were little we purchased a building lot in a meadow near a pond and were in the process of building a house. I was getting the 2 year old dressed the next morning and found 12 ticks under his diaper in the crease between leg and torso. Deer ticks … and tiny tiny. There was no tweezing them off. I used a Band-Aid (r) … i.e. the really good, really sticky ones, stuck it there really tight, and rrrripped it off and the ticks with it. Caused some screaming – I’m sure it hurt – but better than trying to tweeze off TWELVE ticks. Pediatrician approved this method – after the fact BTW.</p>
<p>A friend of mine’s dad (from Washington state - said he had never seen a tick) had come to visit. We had been working outside and he found a tick just below his waistband. We tried all the usual ways to get it off - first put oil on it, then struck a match, blew it out and stuck the hot matchhead onto the tick, then pulling with tweesers - nothing worked. Finally he/we figured out it was a mole/skin tag . . . hard to tell who was more embarassed. :)</p>
<p>and I don’t know what their living habits are, but they must live in trees (as well as brush, shrubbery, etc.). I’ve found 3 or 4 so far this year after just walking to the barn and back - no underbrush, just underneath some trees.</p>
<p>LOL, georgiamom. A few years ago I found my H and some visiting male friends attempting to remove a nipple from one of the dogs. :D</p>
<p>I think that the “some people are tick magnets” theory is correct. My mother is constantly being bitten by deer ticks and has had Lyme disease at least 3 times. I used to live in the same house where she now lives, and had no such episodes at all.</p>
<p>Consolation, sounds like there must have been beer involved… Poor dog.</p>
<p>I lived in the Ozarks (tick heaven) for 11 years. . .thanks for the memories! Family of 9 and each of us had our own pair of tweezers. Seriously, we’ve removed hundreds (thousands?) of them. Wherever there are deer, you’ll find ticks–in grass, underbrush, trees, etc. H and I have helped remove them from the most unmentionable and unreachable places. (I always wondered–what do single people do?) And speaking of “gross”-- how about that other nasty feature of every southern childhood: pinworms?</p>
<p>One of my male friends years ago told me of camping with his wife, getting all randy, and then after making love, finding a tick on his… ah… organ. Both he and his wife were city folk and he had NO idea what to do except to go ask someone, a stranger, in another tent in the campground. The guy he asked laughed his head off, told him to pour whiskey on the embedded tick (and then handed him some whiskey), and pull it off. Welcome to the great outdoors!</p>
<p>Ick, a tick on a… well, never mind!!</p>
<p>We and the dog get ticks all the time. This is the best tick remover we’ve ever tried:</p>
<p>[Protick</a> remedy](<a href=“http://www.tickinfo.com/protickremedy.htm]Protick”>Pro Tick Remedy | TickInfo)</p>
<p>Doesn’t kill the tick (you don’t want to kill them while they’re still attached) and is very easy to use.</p>
<p>By the way, Frontline doesn’t prevent the ticks from biting the animal, but does kill them. We sometimes find dead ones in the house.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot more ticks so far this year than I usually do here in Tennessee. As far as removing them, the only thing that should ever really be used is a pair of tweezers. Grasp the tick with the tweezers as close to the skin as possible so that you also get the head. Apply steady pressure without twisting or pulling too hard. The tick will eventually let go. Be sure to clean the area well afterward. The doctors with whom I use to work always told us nurses who spoke with parents on the phone to discourage the use of Vaseline, hot matches, or any other product as that would only irritate the tick and cause it to burrow in farther. Should you develop joint pain, rash, flu-like illness, fever or swollen lymph nodes in the days following a tick bite, see your doctor.</p>
<p>Our little dog is a tick magnet. Finally, after much discussion, I got her the tick collar yesterday. H did not want her wearing neurotoxins. So I guess she won’t be going to Harvard any time soon. Dogs can get vaccinated for lyme disease. Apparently it did not work well for people so they took it off the market for humans. Always check yourself after a walk in the woods, wear a hat when you go, and socks over your pants legs.</p>
<p>Our little kitty went for a walk in the woods and then took a nap in my D’s bed. D woke up with a deer tick on her face which I sent to the state u’s lab for Lyme testing - which was a waste of money because virtually ALL deer ticks in CT are positive for the spirochete. Pediatrician won’t treat unless D shows symptoms. I think I’ll take her to another MD.</p>