Do ticks nest in the ground?

[2531usmc]

Separate but related, our 19th century ancestors didn't have to deal with ticks like this, because natural, cyclical forest fires kept their numbers down by burning low-level brush, duff, etc. This, and the spread of tick-borne diseases, increasingly emerged as we ignored the reality of our forests being fire-adapted systems that literally need regular burns.

Funny you would say that…

I grew up in western Pennsylvania in the 1960s. We literally spent every day outside in the woods and fields. I don’t ever recall pulling a tic off me.

Did something change between then and now?

 

[RockAndSage]

Funny you would say that…

I grew up in western Pennsylvania in the 1960s. We literally spent every day outside in the woods and fields. I don’t ever recall pulling a tic off me.

Did something change between then and now?

There is a lot less ag and forestry going on than in the 1960s...especially small holdings? Lots of small fields that were cultivated in the 30s, 40s, and 50s just went fallow after those people died off, and their kids were in the cities, even if the properties stayed in those families. Completely guessing here, but there's also a lot less forestry in general, whether small private "wood lot" holdings, or big operations. In another thread people have been talking about how organized the lawfare is against any timber operations, even for small plots of just a couple hundred acres. That's the only stuff I can really think of that would be different over the last 60-ish years.

 

[Phaseolus]

Exploring the Effects of Prescribed Fire on Tick Spread and Propagation in a Spatial Setting - PMC

Lyme disease is one of the most prominent tick-borne diseases in the United States, and prevalence of the disease has been steadily increasing over the past several decades due to a number of factors, including climate change. Methods for control of ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

You can extrapolate from there

Thank you, science matters

 

[7mm-08]

Just for comparison sake, I sprayed down with Sawyer's Permethrin, but my son did not. I cannot say that I noticed a difference in the amount of ticks between the treated and untreated clothing.

This has to be an anomaly. I've had greater than 60 ticks on me at one time while spring best hunting before I started using permethrin. The following year and after treating my clothes and pack properly with permethrin, I had no ticks on me while my hunting partner had more than 40 on him. Sorry, but nasty chemicals do work.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

This has to be an anomaly. I've had greater than 60 ticks on me at one time while spring best hunting before I started using permethrin. The following year and after treating my clothes and pack properly with permethrin, I had no ticks on me while my hunting partner had more than 40 on him. Sorry, but nasty chemicals do work.

It kills them within seconds. Only way I ever go into the woods is with it sprayed on all my gear. Same for the wife and kids gear. I grew up in tick infested PA and the South is just as bad these days. Lonestar ticks everywhere in the last 5 years. I hate ticks. No reason not to use sawyers on ur gear and clothes.

 

[TSAMP]

It kills them within seconds. Only way I ever go into the woods is with it sprayed on all my gear. Same for the wife and kids gear. I grew up in tick infested PA and the South is just as bad these days. Lonestar ticks everywhere in the last 5 years. I hate ticks. No reason not to use sawyers on ur gear and clothes.

I recall a thread where people were diluting their own permethrin on here, at a higher level than Sawyers. I'm kind of with OP on that. I use it and still found ticks, but much less. I've also sprayed ticks directly with sawyers and they were not dead in seconds. I do continue to use it along with other on skin methods to reduce the chances.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

I recall a thread where people were diluting their own permethrin on here, at a higher level than Sawyers. I'm kind of with OP on that. I use it and still found ticks, but much less. I've also sprayed ticks directly with sawyers and they were not dead in seconds. I do continue to use it along with other on skin methods to reduce the chances.

Ya I make my own. Can’t say I’ve ever sprayed the sawyer directly on one now that I think of it. I’ve been making my own at home for years.

I buy it from tractor supply and make a few giant sprays bottles and keep one in the shop, truck, horse barn. I have to double check, pretty sure I use 2 oz of permenthrin to 30 oz of water. Spray gear and leave outside for a day to get rid of the chemical smell. Will last multiple washes and still keeps ticks off.

 

[TheCougar]

I make my own. You can get 10% permethrin… Martins, I think. Get the water based. Mix it 19:1 ratio. I dip my clothes and dry them out. I keep some in a spray bottle and get them a misting a little while before heading out to top off the coverage. I went turkey hunting last week and had 21 ticks crawl in me. Some I watched travel several feet to get on me. They would crawl in my treated clothes for maybe 15 seconds, then get kind of squirrelly, then run for the nearest edge and jump off or tumble off my clothes. Then I squished them. I believe it functions as a neurotoxin for them.

 

[OregonSteeler]

I make my own. You can get 10% permethrin… Martins, I think. Get the water based. Mix it 19:1 ratio. I dip my clothes and dry them out. I keep some in a spray bottle and get them a misting a little while before heading out to top off the coverage. I went turkey hunting last week and had 21 ticks crawl in me. Some I watched travel several feet to get on me. They would crawl in my treated clothes for maybe 15 seconds, then get kind of squirrelly, then run for the nearest edge and jump off or tumble off my clothes. Then I squished them. I believe it functions as a neurotoxin for them.

Ugh! Sounds like a horror movie!

 

[pirogue]

Products like Sawyer only contain .5% Permethrin and cost anywhere from .50 to a dollar/ounce. Go online and get a 32 oz bottle of Martin’s Permethrin SFR for about $1.25/ounce. SFR basically means it is 36.8% Permethrin. Where I went to school, the mix of 1 oz of SFR Permethrin to 24 oz water, would yield a content of 1.47% Permethrin( almost 3 times content of Sawyer). At this same ratio, the 32 oz bottle will make 6 gallons of mix. Or, put 6 2/3 oz of Permethrin SFR in a gallon jug, top off with water, and you have a 2% content. I soak my pants in this, and they claim it’s good for a few washes. 3 1/3 oz per gallon of water yields 1% and will take care of a lot of fire ant beds.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I’ve sprayed clothes in the past with Martin’s 10% diluted to 0.5% but this year I did a five gallon bucket soak for 3 hours. Ran them through the spin cycle in the washer then hang dried.

I had zero on me after 7 days in Idaho last week. Buddies had a few up to seven over the 3 days they joined me.

I’ll be using the soak method going forward for sure.

 

[BuckRut]

Not sure how well it works with people but we find the horses get less ticks when we feed them a peppermint every couple days.

 

[Ozarkansas]

There’s a type of tick called “soft ticks” (they’re an eldritch abomination) that live in rodent burrows but the usual ticks people think of-hard ticks- are generally in the leaf litter.

I second Permethrin, it’s an absolute gamechanger. I can go a week of hard hunting without finding a tick on me. When it comes to fire; it’s not uncommon to get hundreds of seed ticks on you when hunting in the Ozarks. That’s the nymph stage of ticks that generally target rodents but will happily still bite you. But when hunting in recently burned areas I’ll find I get very few ticks on me, and no seed ticks.

 

[LoH]

Ugh! Sounds like a horror movie!

I know, right? Reading @TheCougar 's description of those ticks made me feel that the available selection of "Reaction" emojis isn't adequate. There should be a barf emoji... or like an emoji equivalent of A Guy Who Walked Into a Spiderweb

 

[Haro450]

If you spend time in tick country make your on tick spray like was mentioned above. Farm stores in my area all carry it.