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(Human) tick prevention

Whoa. You are right and I never knew. Ticks are attracted far more to lighter clothing.

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ah, so that’s why they’re always on my legs :joy:

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I see the same things on my dogs. The one with white legs almost always has more ticks than the all brindle one.

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I wonder if this isn’t true for all mites and lice. Last year I got lice in my chicken flock for the first time and the Cinnamon Queens with their white butt fluff had a LOT more than my Barred Rocks with their dark.

or do we just see them better on the light colored animals?

I thought that too but if you check out the evidence based article I linked they showed they are truly more attracted to lighter colors.

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What works for me: wearing permethrin treated clothing. Also there are scientific studies on nonchemical tick repellents. I did my research years ago; I use Repel lemon and eucalyptus.

Also, shower at night; consider throwing your clothes in the dryer after being in tick habitat.

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If you garden, and mulch, consider using cedar mulch. The oil in the wood repels the ticks.

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And put the (outdoor) clothes in the dryer before washing them, if you’re going to do so; I remember reading that they survive in the dryer a lot longer on damp clothes.

ETA: I did some searching. I bet I was remembering the 2013 science fair project by a Boston-area teen. Found an article with follow-up that confirmed the info: ‘a new study published in Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases has, in fact, found that it only takes 6 minutes to kill a tick in the dryer [at high heat]. . . If a tick survives a wash cycle it’s still possible to kill them in the dryer. But, the temperature must be even higher. “When subsequently dried on a high heat setting [54–85°C (129–185°F)], it took 50 minutes to kill all ticks (95% confidence limit, 55 minutes).”’ — https://danielcameronmd.com/kill-tick-clothes/

I keep a couple of outfits of outdoor-work clothes treated with permethrin spray. I find (some?) ticks will still crawl across them, but if they burrow under they die. It feels great to pull off a sock and find a dead tick inside! So far most ticks here are dog ticks but the deer ticks are moving in.

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God I am getting the jeebies just thinking about this ew ew ew ew ew

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Right?!

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I don’t live in Tick Central, NJ, but close enough and it seems like this has been the worst year for bugs!

kind of mentioning the ‘L’ word in polite company…

And my friends with cream colored dogs! I suspected it was something like that. OP, remember to always tuck pants into snug socks too. Tights or yoga pants with socks pulled up over them will help.

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I ordered an organic tick repellant made of essential oils and haven’t found one on me since using it…BUT, I did have one on me last week and noticed the other day it had the dreaded “bullseye” rash around it. My doctor started me on antibiotics for Lyme ASAP…so that’s neat. Stupid bugs. I hate them.

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Repel or Cutter make a lemon eucalyptus oil spray that I have found surprisingly effective against ticks in me and the horse. Also repels culicoides midges that cause sweet itch just as well as DDT according to a study I read.

Repel 94109 HG-94109 Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect, 4-Ounce Pump Spray, 1 pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004N59OFU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_T41TYZ7BT8CTJ56V60K7

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This is not exactly what any pregnant woman wants in the middle of summer… but my field biologist friends who work in Lyme disease areas basically wear a hat, pants and long sleeves, and tuck their pants into their socks and their shirt into their pants. It looks super nerdy, but if you do leggings and sun shirts, it’s not too hot. Basically, ticks typically crawl upwards until they hit skin, so this gives you plenty of time to see them.

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Good to know because I have been using that. I coat the tick prone mare with both natural and unnatural bug repellants and I use that on her tail and under her stomach. It seems to help a little when I lunge her - it sends the clouds of gnats my way. It is supposed to help with mosquitoes but I am glad it is useful for gnats and ticks also. I have seen no signs of ticks in her tail since I started using it. I buy it in Walmart in the camping section.

I HATE ticks. I was so happy that I have not had any on me but one night I started to itch…I had a tiny tiny seed tick on me. If it had not itched I would have never noticed.

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That’s what I thought, too. I wear shorts most days (too old for lycra). I sprayed my legs with Ultra Shield Horse & People spray before turnout the other morning. That night I FOUND THE TINIEST SEED TICK EVER stuck in the bottom of the ball of my foot. That is not fair! Now I have to check my stupid feet multiple times a day.

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These products work very well. I do a lot of trail work and gardening and there are a lot of ticks on my farm here in Vermont. I found these a few years ago on Lyme disease websites.

https://www.sawyer.com/products/permethrin-fabric-treatment This (mentioned above) is for treating clothes. I spray my most commonly worn pairs of pants around the ankles and waist about once every six week, and spray shirts around the collar and end of sleeves. Zero smell. Lasts through several washings. Said to be safe to spray on animals. Wearing treated clothes is enough to keep me free of ticks, but if I’m wearing something not sprayed, I use the following lotion:

https://www.sawyer.com/products/picaridin-insect-repellent. This is a lotion to put on skin. I put it on my ankles, neck, wrists, forehead, in tiny dabs. No fragrance.

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