Tips on Ticks, Spotted Fever, and Lymes Disease
Spring is here on the southwest Oregon coast and with it unfortunately comes many insects that are potentially very dangerous to us and our animals. Celeste and I are currently involved in a wildlife research project which takes us over a variety of steep and rugged terrain of the coast range.
With the warmer temperatures and the promise of spring also come ticks. We have began pulling ticks from our person and as well as from our dog who travels with us for the last couple of weeks. Adult ticks wait on the tops of grasses, brush, and the tips of tree limbs ready to drop upon a suitable host that happen by like Elk, Deer or we humans.
Walking through a field where Elk like to habit will most often than naught, you will quickly find yourself carrying a number of these nasty hitchhikers on your clothing. Also if you take your dog along with you on your hikes through the woods, they to will carry many ticks back home. Its important to check for ticks constantly while your out hiking and when you return home.
And for California, so you don’t feel left out – Serotypes of tick-borne spotted fever group rickettsiae from western California.
My brother in law had a case of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever years ago and became very ill.
I have had several friends who after repeated attempts to diagnose bizarre symptoms of illness have tested positive for Lymes Disease.
More information here about Lymes symptoms.
Not to gross anyone out, but I remember removing a tick from the middle of my Mothers back when I was about 11 years old, which is the most helpless place to have a tick if your by yourself. It would fit nicely in ” Dark Story’s of Survival,” or the scariest!
We had lots of dogs and cats when growing up, plus wandering everywhere in woods and fields so ticks have always been a normal part of our lives. I removed ticks from our horses in the spring and fall, anything with blood is a potential victim of the Tick!
Even Lizards are bitten by ticks, and amazing things happen. Lizards Slow Lymes Disease
The instruction that I share with my students and what we use daily during tick season is maximise tick awareness. You have to think Tick! Think tick and your mind and body will respond to alert you when you have one or six crawling on you. Yuck! Yes use a good mosquito repellent to help, applying on the cuffs and waist of your pants works well-long sleeve shirts and hats can be helpful.
Being aware is the best defense against Lymes and Spotted Fever.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Mark
One preventive measure is to do daily tick checks on everyone (kinda like chimps grooming but you don’t have to actually eat the buggies you find on each other). Since Lyme takes > 24 hrs of tick contact w/ the skin to disgorge the borrelia bacterium, if you pluck any ticks off in that time frame the chances of contracting Lyme disease are low.
Meg
Wilderness Survival
101 easy sources of spring protein the Survivalist should be aware of when in search of something to eat.
1. ticks having recently fed on a host such as a Dusky Footed Wood Rat and bulging with blood are an excellent source of protein in the wild – NOT!
Seriously I’m joking here folks.
Hi Mark and all,
I was treated for Lymes that I’d had for supposedly 15 years last spring. I knew I had it the first time but back then the treatment was inadequate (at least at this doctor) and after telling my doctor (a new one) the current symptoms and my past treatment he recomended two months of anti-biodics. After a few weeks I began to feel better and have not gotten a cold all winter until recently.
One reason I’m tellin my story is that I never knew how Lymes can attack your immune system and lower your white blood cell count. If you feel tired often or get sick “easily” (easily can be defined as your friends are “sick” of hearing that you’re sick again) You may want to consider the possibility that you have Lymes, or if you know you’ve had lymes that you want to make sure that it is treated fully.
Greg
Thanks Greg for sharing your experience with Lymes and a good heads up for folks with illnesses that won’t go away.
I have a friend as well who completely became dibilitated before the doctors (After the third blood test) finally were able to confirm that she had Lymes. Really a heart breaking story.
She contracted Lymes when she was living in the hills north of San Francisco near Point Reyes National seashore. That area used to have the highest rate of Lymes in the west.
Tom Brown used to joke that so many folks from Marin County had taken his classes in the Pine Barrens, that they no doubt brought the Lymes ticks back to California.
Folks check out Greg Weis website, he runs a very cool outdoor skills school in the upper reaches of Wisconsin. Check out his website http://www.nativeways.com
Thanks again Greg.
Some of the favorite places ticks
like to attach themselves on the human body are:
1) Between the upper part of your pants – belt – waist area. The pressure created by your clothing around the waist is a perfect place for a tick to bite the skin, we find ticks here often.
2) Back of the neck is another favorite place for ticks, check this area often.
3) All the warm dark area’s of the body, armpits, groin, behind the knee, and back are all favorite area’s for ticks.
Yes even the most private area’s of our body are not immune to the advances of the nasty Tick.