unwelcome hitchhikers?

rudderboy

OK, so it was inevitable with the start of decent weather, but I picked up TWO ticks yesterday whilst out enjoying the sunshine - b*stards.

It wouldn't have been too bad but one managed to fix itself to my left butt cheek :shock: - I was wearing lycra under my shorts!! How the hell????...?

Any one else suffered from these little f*ckers?

Mental Mickey

OK, so it was inevitable with the start of decent weather, but I picked up TWO ticks yesterday whilst out enjoying the sunshine - b*stards.

It wouldn't have been too bad but one managed to fix itself to my left butt cheek - I was wearing lycra under my shorts!! How the hell????...?

Any one else suffered from these little f*ckers?

For a minute there after reading this post & thread title, I thought you had misspelled 'chicks'.

rudderboy

I've never been one to complain about chicks sinking their teeth into my left butt cheek, and I'm not about to start now

miss notax

Blimey :shock: :shock: :shock:

I've never got them, but Notax got a few last year. We couldn't pull them out, so tried covering them in vaseline and all sorts - they are resilient little buggers :evil:

The really grim thing was that their little legs were waggling the whole time *yuck* - it made me feel quite sick (and to be fair I wasn't the one with them poking out of my legs!)!

Did you have one of those tick remover things?

rudderboy

just ordered some pullers from Amazon. I'm always pulling them out my little girls legs when they've been out with us in the sticks, so I thought its about time i got the right tool for the job.

I'm told that you shouldn't use anything like vaseline or any chemical on the buggers, as it makes them regurgitate INTO YOUR FLESH :twisted: , and thats how you get Lymes disease, which I understand you don't really want.

timpop

I have a pair of those tick remover things for when my dog gets them. They are disgusting little creatures; thankfully I've never had one attach its dirty teeth into me (touch wood). Yuck indeed!

miss notax

rudderboy wrote:

I'm told that you shouldn't use anything like vaseline or any chemical on the buggers, as it makes them regurgitate INTO YOUR FLESH :twisted: , and thats how you get Lymes disease, which I understand you don't really want.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Brilliant, I shall take great delight in telling Notax how we probably made a tick vomit into his leg

(and yes, Lymes Disease is definitely one to avoid, think i'll be investing in one of the removers now)

Rooner

not to worry you too much, but after you've got them out keep an eye on the wound.....two of my colleagues have had Lymes disease in the last few years from the little sods.

Basically, if you start feeling unwell (flu like), and start to get a ring around the wound that grows, get yerself to a doc.

My mate had one on his back, said 'I'm not feeling well, could you look at my tick bite?', he pulled his top up and he had an enormous red ring over his back, like a target, with the bite in the middle :shock:

Now's the time of year to start putting insect repellent on (I wondered if I could Frontline myself?) . There's a new one come out called Smidge that Midge, from Scotland, and I presume they know a thing or two about nasty biteys

Arkady001

I usually dig them out with a Leatherman tool I carry for all sorts of little jobs - sits in the Camelback next to my old Kool-Tool... I also carry a full 1st-aid kit with all manner of goodies incuding spray disinfectant and alcohol gel.
Had them loads of times and while the UK ones are pretty grim, you should try the ones they get in Cyprus - big as your little fingernail and look a bit like an old threepenny-bit with legs.
I got one in the scalp on the back of my head and I could actually hear the crunching inside my head as the little bar-steward ate his way in - bloody horrific - I was yelling at the medic to just cut it out: "but it'll leave a scar" he whimpered - "So bloody what?" I yelled back "that's what hair is for, you poof: get cutting!!!"

It did leave a scar. Bothered.

chrischris1315

I have never had one myself luckily =]
But I throught this was appropiate (don't watch while eating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Ac6RYS ... re=related

Enjoy :twisted:

Chris

supafly1982

mega thread, ive had a couple of the buggers too, yanked them out with my fingers, you dont want to do that as it leaves the head in lol, i knew a gamekeeper who got limes desiese, he got bit on the winky lol, full blown limes desease never goes away propperly so i was told, might be wives tale though

concorde

I've never had one of thse in my life (touch wood) Are they all over the UK? Don't like the sounds of them!

Anonymous

Are these things more prone in some parts of the country than others? I've never actually seen one, or known anyone round here to have a problem with them, curiously.

blablablacksheep

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Are these things more prone in some parts of the country than others? I've never actually seen one, or known anyone round here to have a problem with them, curiously.

yes, mostly in the welsh areas and lakes.

Though where there is long grass and sheep you probally find them.

i allways make sure i check myself over in the shower after a ride(please dont insert sexual things here) :roll:

Not much you can do tbh, long shirts ect dont allways stop them, just dont let them stay on for longer than a day or can get nasty

concorde

Well I've lived in Wales for 26 years, spent lots of time up mountains and have never had/noticed one of these on me. Hope I don't either!

Anonymous

Not much long grass at all here, maybe that's why I've not come across them then.

Fenred

Funk me!....Hands up who's now paranoid about ticks??!?!?!?! :shock:

concorde

I am now!

reyrol

After a day walking in the Lake district my son found one attached to his leg, an application of the soldering iron did the trick though!

Fenred

note to self, avoid area's where sheep are prevelant, avoid long grass, invest in a soldering iron!......GULP!

Anonymous

A real man could fix any wound with a soldering iron, good stuff teaching that to your son at an early age

reyrol

He's not at an early age it's me that's old unfortunately

cooldad

Never seen any here but the dogs used to get loads in Africa - huge grey things. Just used to pick them off. Trick was to get the head - grab the body and it breaks off. fSqueeze too hard and the burst and squirt blood - lovely.
I think if you just leave them they fall off when they are full.

blablablacksheep

heres a funny story..

Was out doing a hike with some friends a few years ago for the DOE award :oops: (the shame!)

We were walking in wales and was one of those rare days with good sunshine and we all enjoying getting burnt...

As we going along we saw some sheep in some fields below and one of the group who thought he was Ray meirs told us about ticks and how "deadly and dangerous" they are :roll:

We all took the piss out of him for it and carried on, but he kept going on and on about ticks and he was clearly getting paranoid over it, just wouldnt stop....

I then relised there was a short cut though some farmers fields which would save us around 2+hours.....problem was, LONG grass and tons of prime welsh sheep

As you imagine he didnt want to go though, but we all managed to talk him into going though the field...................but, to exit the field we had to leg it over some electric wire which were "protecting" the sheep, no worryies there .....

Lets just say his enthusiasm for trying to escape the field full of "deadly and dangerous ticks" cost him dearly..........BBQ came to mind

Let this be a lesson, dont let your fears take over you and cause you to rush 8)

lvquestpaddler

Our house is surrounded by woods, heather, sheep and the place is tick infested- the woodland ones are worse for Lymes as they tend to get more rodents to munch on which is where the Lymes actually comes from. ticks just kindly pass it on. Pulled one out of our collie pup last week(only use a proper puller like the plastic "tick twisters" from pets at home etc) then put it on the outside step and tortured it with a flame thrower lighter(windproof type) it took 5 secs for the legs/jaws etc to even go. They are evil little sods.....
Unavoidable but keep leggings on all year round for mtb around here. I picked up two sea kayaking last year on the Garvellachs. the trip leader warned us the island was infested and I had a drysuit on which when it came off I stepped into the tent and the tent was closed at all times....evil little sods....
(Our local publican said he had one on the passenger seat of his landrover up Glen Feshie one time, and there was a spider which "abseiled" down from the roof onto the seat. Tick spotted the spider went right after the spider- the spider took off....enough said!!!! :twisted: )

ralph1471

I think how prevalent they are and the chances of them carrying lymes disease depends on the area. there are generally more around any big groups of animals, ie. deer horses and sheep. Apparently the best thing to do is to remove them without squeezing the body or covering them in anything. in the new forest apparently 30% of ticks carry lymes disease, so its worth checking the wound in the weeks after to see if theres a ring around it, and think about getting some antibiotics from the doctors if your worried. if you take them early on then it prevents you from getting it so id say your pretty safe as long as you keep an eye on any bites!

concorde

http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/ticks.htm

ralph1471

bloody hell! turns out that as i was writing my previous post, i had one of the little bastards clinging to my arse! just noticed it 5 minutes later. not happy. have removed it now but might head to the doctors in the morn rather than worry about it.

j_l

A bot fly classic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23eimVLAQ2c

Good link Concorde thanks

J@mesC

Yeah, good link Concorde - everyone should read that before attempting to remove ticks with soldering irons, lighters, cigarettes or vaseline!

We get loads of them around here (West Berks) - a lot of the woods are full of deer and they carry huge numbers of ticks.

Easiest place to get those tick removal tools is a vets or decent pet shop. The little green hookey ones are great, come in a pack of 2 different sizes and by far the fastest, cleanest way of removing them (plenty of practise, mainly on the dogs but have also had one or two myself ;o)

stannie

I always used to soak the little beggars in vodka or gin before I removed them from my dog, as I thought it would anaesthetise them and makes them easier to remove.

But I guess it is not a good idea to be taking vodka and gin on a trail ride and it now looks like the ticks will just regurgitate alcohol ridden saliva if I do this! :shock: