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Today I'm trying.... 10 Denier.
Hope the ticks don't find me to Sexy 😉
Those shoes could be tricky on Spuds or flats, but at least they'll show your lovely ankles off.
It’s really interesting how people’s reports of tick ‘bites’ varies from “never been bitten” to “I pick up ticks all the time”. Is this because some people attract and pick up ticks more easily
Does seem that way - i had a mate and he was always fine, but his partner would pick up numerous ticks every time she went out.
I think I've had two ever. And one of those was on the top of my big toe (I think it was in my crocs when I put them on). But I know other people who get them regularly even if in longs and long sleeves. Clothes don't seem to help hugely.
Fascinating creatures. A bit like ladyboys.
In what way are they like ladyboys???
Just to say that Lymes disease is a complete and total, un-exaggeratable nightmare if not caught and diagnosed. (My daughter caught it when young, and on holiday in the Black Forest). Once identified, it’s a breeze to treat, at least in my daughters case. But boy, it’s awful until you figure out what it is. Life altering/destroying.
Growing up in Herefordshire/Shropshire and doing all my outdoor pursuits there and in Wales I’d not really heard of them never mind seen one.
Same - I spent the mid 90s dragging my bike around the Stiperstones/Eastridge/Longmynd etc and had never really heard about ticks until relatively recently
Most tick treatments for pets etc are broad spectrum insecticides and tend to be nasty. They are toxic to bees and lots of aquatic life so reducing their use is a good idea. It’s the reason why your dog should not go in a water course within 2 days of treatment.
Today's legs....
Pix later.
Might look into a Only Fans account;)
johns
Just to say that Lymes disease is a complete and total, un-exaggeratable nightmare if not caught and diagnosed. (My daughter caught it when young, and on holiday in the Black Forest). Once identified, it’s a breeze to treat, at least in my daughters case. But boy, it’s awful until you figure out what it is. Life altering/destroying.
I wonder if it was a straightforward cure for her because you caught it quickly?
Was that the case?
Did she get the bullseye rash?
I’ve read that there’s a treatment time limit and once Lyme gets hold it’s an incurable lifelong problem. (Eg with my US pal Lenny who was killed by lymphoma which the docs said was due to his Lyme).
The lady I met in my local woods (Friston) who’d been infected there years earlier, told of having to travel to Germany to get diagnosed and despite treatment still feeling quite ill years later.
Anyone tried the “tickless” ultrasonic repeller?
https://healingfursouls.com/tickless-review/
Seems too good to be true? Very varying reviews out there.
Herefordshire/Welsh borders area - never had an issue with ticks, on myself or dogs, until this year.
My friend's terriers used to occasionally get them after they'd been down a hole somewhere, but since the spring we're finding them on the dogs (spaniels) after most walks if there's any remotely long grass involved. Sometimes catch them before they've had a chance to latch on, but end up pulling most out - alpkit do a good tool that seems to get the mouth parts out too.
In the past few weeks we've been in Cumbria, The Highlands, Peak District and South Downs, and have found ticks on the dogs after walks in all of those locations.
Pretty much only wear shorts at work, often in bracken, occasionally in thick bracken. Luckily don’t get ticks despite the dogs getting plastered here if not Bravecto’d. Their current dose is at around 17 months and still effective- we only re-treat once they start getting live ticks again.
I do have to pluck around 15 horse flies a day off of my legs and arms but thankfully I don’t react to those.
Had 17 on my legs (was wearing baselayer Helly Hansen tights at the time). Had to pick them all off. Always use a lighter to kill them as nothing else seems to work (once they're removed, of course).
Kayaked up in Lomond last year and found the islands were full of them. So far, managed to avoid Lyme Disease as far as I can tell.
Normally live in Southern Spain and only ever saw one which was in Cazorla, which is a wetter part of Andalucia. Probably too hot for them that far south and not much foilage neither.
I'm not sure trousers work. They're tenacious little things and seem wise to the fact that they can hide much better in the hard to reach places (once had to remove from under my balls and had to get my mate to pluck one from my arse crack).
If I come back from wildcamping these days in the UK, I go through the unedifying procedure of squatting over a mirror and examining my behind - something only someone on a GP's salary would contemplate no doubt.
I go through the unedifying procedure of squatting over a mirror and examining my behind
What about trying the mirrored wardrobe doors .... What else do you do with them?
My thinking with light coloured pants is that you can see em and brush em off. Sure they can get inside too.
Not so easy with my customary all black outfit. My pal says he’s had them inside bike tights. Tenacious little buggers.
I have had a couple and fine they itch and hence have found them as there has been something to notice. Got them before they have swelled up so early.
They like warm moist areas hence why you find them on balls/bum/twurnt
I don’t think they always itch.
Little sods they are.
I’m using pale trousers so I can spot em before they crawl in and Smidge now, but if it repels insects what’s it doing to me when it soaks in!
The cost of cycling!
I had a job surveying for ticks in the Cairngorms. I spent a summer dragging a white blanket over various moors and counting them. Suffice to say, I got bit plenty of times, including once on the winky. I got Lyme's too, but got super strong antibiotics when I told the Dr my job. Incidentally, the antibiotics I was one, apparently a single tablet was sufficient to treat syphillis, I was on two a day for 10 days.
Re the Frontline issue, spot ons disperse through the lipid layer on the epidermis. We tend to wash it off every time we shower. I don't want to know what is in Bravecto, what I do know is that it comes out in dog's poo, meaning those pillocks that claim that nature will degrade their dog's excrement are way off the mark (like the unrottable sheep poo on the hills).
Brokenbanjo
Wow, quite a job that. Do you take precautions now when in the countryside / riding?
Thx
I do all my outdoorsy stuff in mid Wales and I've never gotten ticks. My wife hasn't either. We both do tend towards wearing trousers all the time. It does worry me a bit, but I've never noticed a bite before.
Years ago when Ticks, Scab mites and other creepy crawlies and their associated diseases were becoming a real issue for sheep farmers the Ministry of Agriculture brought in a scheme where sheep flocks had to be compulsorily dipped twice a year within certain date parameters. What this did was to eradicate lots of the nasty ( and not so nasty ) bugs from the public consciousness , Tick numbers in the bracken beds plummeted . However the favoured chemical for this scheme contained organophosphates and some shepherds began to develop a condition known as 'Dippers Flu', which subsequently became known more widely as 'Gulf War Syndrome' due to soldiers being given a treatment to ward off insect borne diseases in the Middle East and also the effects of the Organophosphates when used in a war zone as a nerve gas. This brings us to the point where our government drops the dipping scheme as they realise the connection and don't want to be sued by thousands of sheep farmers who were forced to use this lethal chemical , albeit relatively safe if handled as prescribed, I have witnessed people mixing the stuff with their bare hands and winced. Basically 'Spoton' et al are weak OPs which act as a nerve agent on creepy crawlies but who knows how these things build up over time in the food chain and the effect they have long term. In short that is why we are seeing more and more ticks , they have always had a massive pool in the wild deer population but equally deer numbers are increasing all over the country, sheep farmers still have insecticides at their disposal but they are not used in the same blanket ways of yesteryear.
We’d better be vigilant.
I’ve a pal who is quite seriously ill with diagnosed Lyme. 3 weeks of heavy antibiotics have not shifted it.
He said he always checked thoroughly after being outside and was constantly removing then - and that even so, he sometimes found them a few days later on him in areas previously checked.
Apparently they can stow away on clothing or in the car and get on you later.
Also it’s worth mentioning that he had one inside his long Lycra cycling tights right up on the thigh. They seem to crawl with quite some determination.
On the plus side the hospital A&E doc did test for Lyme hoping it would account for the neurological symptoms which prompted his visit.
Our wee boy seems to pick them up very easily, I feel terrible as I never believe him but every time, right enough, there's another tick (it's always tiny black ones, not sure what species that is). Thankfully they seem to latch on in very obvious places like forearms, calves and his chest randomly, is a kids skin thinner/warmer or something?
I've got a 100% record for extracting them intact so far and our son is very brave about it, but I don't want to tempt fate so will start Smidging him and hoping it works.
My pal who tested positive is still ill. Mental issues. Take em seriously! I guess that’s the way ne advantage of cold weather. They aren’t out.
A few years ago I lived in a place which was recognised as the 'tick capital of the Northern Beaches of Sydney'. I could not walk in the garden without getting one. I checked every time I came in and usually got them when they were crawling. However, the locals swore by a rub down with talcum powder after outside activities and then getting into an epsom salts bath. It seemed to work - but I would suggest prevention is better than the cure so now I live back in the UK - on a farm with lots of deer on it so I use smidge now.
Most tick treatments for pets etc are broad spectrum insecticides and tend to be nasty. They are toxic to bees and lots of aquatic life so reducing their use is a good idea. It’s the reason why your dog should not go in a water course within 2 days of treatment.
Our vet is pretty vocal about not administering due to the damage to the environment.
Picked the first one off the dog at the weekend - we do have red deer living next to us. Some of the repellents like Tick Magic use non-insecticides and are quite effective - a local farm worker swears it’s very good
Craghoppers only make these for women at the mo:
https://www.craghoppers.com/womens-nosilife-adeena-legging-blue-navy/
but, it’s the way to go👍
Funny this thread has popped back up, was just thinking it was getting close to tick time again. Since posting this:
Rarely get bitten, probably one or two a year but even then I have had a confirmed infection of Lyme. Took a while to get my doctor to take me seriously, they really thought it was a fake disease, but when the lethargy got to me quite seriously they ran tests and I came back positive. A long course of antibiotics eventually sorted it out and I’ve got no lasting effects but it did knock me down a few pegs for nearly 12 months!
Still ride in shorts just make sure I check for them afterwards.
I got a late season bite last year, only a mild rash and no ill effects so must have got lucky:
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Will have to see about some sort of spray for this year, hard to find one that I don't have a reaction to!
We get lots of ticks where I live in Queensland. The best prevention we've found is actually made in the UK from "lemon eucalyptus"
We buy the roll on stick in batches as we keep it in the cars, riding bags etc.
I actually have a shirt that smells of it even after being washed.
Greatbeardedone - I’m not sure about leggings doing much good. My infected pal wears them and still found a tick inside them on his thigh. Tenacious little buggers.
Reluctantjumper. I suggest try Smidge. There’s also some strong stuff you can spray on clothes. Lasts a few washes.
As the clocks are about to change I’ll soon be wearing my beige Nukeproof pants to I can spot em before I transfer them to the car. Some sites say they can live a long time awaiting a host!
Spotted near Warminster by my infected pal
Either two species, or two generations of the same species. That's an interesting collection!
Argh, that's horrible. I'm anticipating an awful year for ticks in my part of the country (the South Downs), thanks to the warm winter. I no longer hike or camp in grass.
Question for the Australian residents: do ticks in Australia carry Lyme disease? I know they carry other nasty things.
We have deer in the garden regularly now - which is why we have both had ticks from our own garden last year.
There are many reasons I want to shoot 75% of Scotland's deer- roe and red.
I'm sure there'd be something not too nasty you could spray your garden with. Heck if there were deer based insects in my garden I'd be considering shooting the deer, spraying the whole place with Agent Orange, and burning it with napalm.
Deer Ked, hate the buggers.
We could do the cull by shooting from a helicopter like they did in Australia for the camels.
Radio4 now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001y87f
INSIDE HEALTH
We go on a tick hunt
We head to a leafy oasis in London to talk all things ticks
I've found a couple on me in the past couple of years, I'd never seen one until a few years ago, so definitely seem to be on the rise IME.
They seem to like to bite you in hard to reach places like your armpit, groin and one time for me at the back of my knee.
I didn't realise that Smidge was so successful with ticks, I'll make sure we use it more often.
OMG, I advise against listening to this Inside Health episode, if you’re already prone to worrying about ticks. Scary stuff.
I agree about the inside health episode. Better to be safe though. Some rather serious possible consequences.
My Upper New York State friend Lenny died of Leukemia and was told that his Lyme was a massive contributor.
So be read that they can live a long time without feeding so try avoid taking them into home or car.
I found the Inside Health episode quite reassuring: a few key takeaways for me were:
- Ticks need temperatures over about 15C be active
- Ticks don’t just jump on and start feeding, but first spend a couple of hours realising they are on a host and finding the best spot to feed.
- Most ticks aren’t carrying Lyme disease, so a tick bite is far from being a guaranteed Lyme infection.
I have had 3 ticks, one under my watch strap caught while cycling in the Cairngorms. One on my leg caught in the South of the Lake district. The last and most bizarre I think I got on the Ferry to Shetland.
I had driven from home to the ferry in Aberdeen and only stops twice for Petrol. I had gone to my cabin and slept in the cabin on the ferry. I drove off the ferry and drove to the hostel where I was meeting the other seakayakers. While chatting in the car park one of the other kayakers saw a tick on my neck and removed it.
I have no idea where it came from other than the ferry. There are no deer is Shetland and I had not got out of the car until I got to the hostel.
BBC Countryfile did an extensive report Sunday. Starts at 18 mins or so.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001yssh
Seems he found them even in cold weather. Smidge at the ready riders!
Got back this week from nine days in the Western Highlands. 'Wild' camping every night (don't like the term but, y'know). I'd sprayed my trousers with permethrin and kept my trousers tucked into socks. Cursory tick awareness - brushing off clothing, generally keeping inner tent door closed if not in use. No bites, found one tick in the tent. Be aware but not paranoid. I'm of the opinion, having read some signs going up (not where I was this trip), that at least some landowners/managers see tick paranoia as a useful tool in keeping people off their land.
I was surprised about the temp that ticks need to be active. Down in s.w Wilts where I live, neighbours dogs are picking them up nearly all year round now, I think mid January was the first spotted this year.
That bluebell full of ticks pic was taken before work last month, it was much colder than 15c and they were certainly active.
The low sounding incidence of Lymes they talked about was odd too, iirc there's been 3-4 cases in our street of maybe 15 houses. The local GP is really hot on it too which is good.
There's an interesting article on the BBC website currently - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4nnke4m8lko
Mentions dog deaths related to tick bites & the possibility of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (which kills 40% of those infected) reaching the UK.
I have asked a couple of Glasgow GPs about Lyme disease. Both saying they see it regularly but not frequently. A few cases a year. Not always a bullseye rash. Sometimes diagnosed after unexplained lethargy weeks after being bitten.
Seems low risk if reasonable precautions are taken.
https://lymediseaseuk.com/prevention/
A mate of mine started the antibiotics yesterday after having a rash (not bullseye) on his leg for a couple of weeks. He has no recollection of seeing/removing a tick recently.
Apparently my neck of the woods, Somerset, is a tick hotspot. There's an article on the BBC website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd11gkldgw9o & also a 5 minute radio interview on ticks & bite prevention on BBC Sounds - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j3rb2s
Might be useful for local riders & walkers & seems to be suggesting that insect repellent is pretty much essential for any outdoorsy activities in the UK.
insect repellent is pretty much essential for any outdoorsy activities in the UK.
I'll usually not bother with insect repellent if I'm riding or running on roads, but it's a default if I'm going off-road.
I have picked up a couple to ticks from riding on the road before. I guess that the little blighters leap from grass verges & undergrowth.
Rewilding seems to be a big thing at the moment too which may increase the risk as verges & hedgerows are more overgrown.
Stop riding in the gutter it only encourages poor overtakes 😂
(That's my victim blaming done for the day).
Ride where motorised traffic clears stuff off the road, not where it clears the stuff to. Riding in the gutter will likely get more punctures too, and then probably expose you to more ticks while fixing them in that grassy verge.
Heading for another tick hotspot on Monday - South Uist. Walking socks and trousers sprayed with permethrin.
"Wherever Mr Charlesworth goes, he finds ticks. But it was a series of drags at Loch Eynort in South Uist that left him “shocked”.The only difference in the two areas he dragged was that large mammals couldn’t access the fenced section.Over a year, he found only seven ticks in that area – but 557 where animals could roam."
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands-islands/5549683/uist-ticks-lyme-disease-deer/
I removed a tick from my wrist the other night after a ride. I was wearing long sleeves, gloves and tights, the only exposed parts of me was my face and neck, and a tiny sliver of wrist between my sleeve and glove. Thankfully no issues from the bite, actually I've had much worse reactions of late to midgie bites, I end up getting itchy raised puss filled lumps that leave a scab for at least a week or two.
Went for a walk around Montepulciano yesterday. GF caught 13 ticks, only one of which managed to take hold despite her wearing long trousers tucked into her socks. I found three on my socks and despite wearing shorts didn't get bitten.
3 to 4 cases of Lymes in 15 houses would mean you need to be in a real , national level tock and Lymes blackspot. Are there lots of deer, sheep, any other obvious reasons why this would be so?
Just pulled one out of my wife's leg. We've had a quiet season for them (so farl.
First one in a while last week on my ankle after riding some neglected overgrown DH tracks. Easy out as it hadn’t really got stuck in, they don’t seem to like the taste of me.Great to see this project ( https://ticksolve.ceh.ac.uk) from Jimfrandisco, and also interesting to hear your professional views on some of the thoughts in this thread. For example: deer appear to be perceived as a prime vector (understandable considering adult ticks may be more likely to travel on larger mammals), but I understood ticks use smaller mammals (vole, mice, rabbits etc etc) as hosts too and were just as likely to pick up a nymph or larval tick from one of the other of their three mobile life stages (larvae, nymph, adult).
I find Adult ticks are usually extremely easy to spot, if you’re looking. Larvae, extremely easy to overlook. Nymphs - in between and usually fairly visible.
Therefore it’d be great to clear another area of confusion is whether larvae ticks can carry Lyme, or Tick Bourne Encephalitis? I’d previously believed they could not, so grateful
For context, I’ve found hundreds of ticks on me, but only a couple of dozen embedded and feeding (usually remove with tick tools). They were very bad on the moors at home in Cornwall in 2020 (16 picked up in one walk) and other hot years, less so this year.
I’ve just returned from a 10 days bikepacking in the Scottish Highlands and think I managed to find every tick before it attached. My riding partner found a couple of nymph or larvae attached and feeding. However, as with any trip which includes camping in wild places; they may be hiding in gear for some time - which is another area to understand: how long before they desiccate and die if indoors when removed from moist undergrowth?
Slight drift anyone seen any horse flies yet?
Clegs? Not yet. And I'd know about it! 😂
We usually get them in spells of hot, still weather and we've not had much of that so far this year.
Should never have mentioned them, turned up today - ****s
Had traces of lymes disease about 20 years ago. Avoided the ticks for many years
Thousands of them in the field where we are building a solar farm near Staveley (Derbyshire)
As for mtb - still ride in shorts
If I'm going to be using spray permethrin which product/brand should I be looking for?
I bought half a litre from this source:
https://www.hedgewitchessentials.co.uk/onlineshop/icaridin-insect-repellent.html
I rode the Ciaran trail back to Kinlochleven. Lots of ferns. I found 3 ticks in the next 2 days. It’s freaking me out. My daughter had Lymes disease about 15 years go. It is difficult to put into words what a difficult and life changing time that was for her.
I use Lifesystems around £9 or £10 from various outdoor shops or online. Seems effective. Note not the same product Bill linked to which appears to be an alternative to deet
https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/p/lifesystems-ex4-anti-mosquito-spray-E7224033.html.<!--more-->
Not tick related but just following on from the repelent recommendations in this thread.
We've had a lot of mosquito's locally & been getting bothered by daytime biting ones recently.
Today whilst standing in my kitchen sipping on a coffee I got attacked by this failry large beast!
It's an Asian Tiger Mosquito - anyone else come accross these evil pests? Apparently becoming more prevalent across Europe & spreading Denghi Fever & other nasty diseases.
I'm looking at buying some Smidge to protect against ticks on my rides but will that also ward off these daytime biters or should I be looking at something stronger/different??
I went to buy some Smidge earlier and saw they also do a mosquito repellent so I bought some of that instead.
Went camping with the wife up some local hills for the aurora last month. Was a fair bit of bushwacking and found 12 between us the next day.
Walked the east highland way last week but treated boots, socks, trousers, tops, rucksacks and bits of the tent with permithrin before we left. Used a bit of smidge on exposed skin.
No ticks at all for us two, whereas others in the party found quite a few.
Read that treating boots and socks alone reduces chance of tick bite 70x.
Just back from 2 days walking on South Uist, a tick hotspot. Treated trousers and socks with permethrin before going. No ticks despite much wading through bracken.
Bump to remind everyone.
Got two despite riding in long sleeve and trousers with elasticed waist and ankles. One even gone down my sock.
Better get a tick remover and remember the Smidge when we do the KAW in early September