Fucking ticks

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I'm very tick conscious. I'm careful about where I walk, and about what I wear. I wear long shirts and trousers, long socks, and if the trousers are loose, bicycle clips. I only go for short walks anyway. And I still find ticks on me. I worry about there being some I don't notice or can't reach (I don't have a partner). I don't feel able to sit on the grass to have a picnic or read a book. It's miserable, when being in the countryside is such a big part of life in Scotland.The deer we have here make the ticks much more likely to carry infections - especially the horrendous Weil's disease. How do the rest of you deal with this?

Worse nowadays, agree

Find loads on kids esp groin etc

Bung them into alcohol to kill and retain (for analysis in case of infection symptoms ) after v careful removal

I've seen images posted from a guy, not in the UK I think, who tucks his trousers into his socks and wraps duck tape, sticky out, around his thighs. He reckons they crawl up looking for skin. He had dozens trapped on the tape 🤢
I hate ticks. Many years ago I did a Scotland walking holiday with my dog. I took over 50 off her on the worst day and my friend who wore shorts had 2 at the back of her knee

God this is something else to worry about.
Stupid question, but how do you check for ticks if they are tiny? Ds does a lot of hillwalking and i dont think hes aware of all this either.

How do ticks get on your scalp or behind your ears, can they fly? I thought they just stayed on the ground

@ssd to find them have a look over your legs, torso, arms, face in good light. On my younger son the bites come up like midgie bites, which helps with spotting them. Older son doesn't seem to react to them so much. If you gently run your hand over the skin you can feel the tick as a little raised lump, and it doesn't brush off (unless it's not biting you yet!). The ones I've found range in size from maybe 0.5mm to 2mm. I might be over-estimating - the very smallest are maybe a big bigger than a full stop.

They look quite like freckles or mud splatters - the raised bump and not brushing off are the key. If unsure take a flash photo with phone and enlarge. You will see legs!

They crawl. And I think they probably hang out on leaves etc waiting for victims to brush past them.

Are they the same tics that can make you allergic to red meat?

So if you found one on you what do you do. I read they breathe out their backsides so you should put vaseline on them to stop them breathing?

@ssd

So if you found one on you what do you do. I read they breathe out their backsides so you should put vaseline on them to stop them breathing?

Never do this! It can make them regurgitate their stomach contents back into you

Pull straight out with a pair of tweezers.

Horrible things. I'm in Northern Ireland and we don't get that many although maybe more in Fermanagh- well there's redwater (babesia) in cattle there anyhow. We don't have any roe deer here, just a few reds and some sika and fallow, not loads. Although we have forest parks we don't have anywhere near as many public rights of way/bridleways as the rest of the UK, so that may limit the spread too.

Oh yuck but thanks for telling me...is it worth buying a tick tool remover or do tweezers work as good?

The dog has had hundreds, regardless of what I spray or treat him with. He has fur like a wolf so
it’s hard to find them and he doesn’t let me remove them anymore even if I do. I found one on the carpet a couple of days ago. I generally flush them down the toilet. I feel like I must have had one by now by laws of probability but I’ve never found one on me. My plan is to just hope for the best that no one gets Lyme disease.

I despise ticks. Evil, tiny, pointless, blood sucking, diseased, fucks. They remind me of broad beans, and I refuse to eat them because of this.

They are basically Micro Nigel Farage.

@ssd

Oh yuck but thanks for telling me...is it worth buying a tick tool remover or do tweezers work as good?

Tweezers are fine, but not the flat ended ones # you don’t want to squash them. I’ll try to find a photo of some good ones.

tweezers like these

I’ve got a different brand, but the tips are very fine, similar to these.

I think these are like mine:

www.amazon.co.uk/Lifesystems-Unisexs-Tick-Tweezers-Silver/dp/B0017KJJG8?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

@aurea

That’s terrible, how could they have not been checking the kids for ticks?

I’m tick aware and carry a tick removal card l, something like this

www.amazon.co.uk/Lifesystems-Unisexs-Tick-Remover-White/dp/B0847VHXLJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=tick+remover+for+humans&sprefix=tick&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1622525013&sr=8-18

They need to be attached for about 48 hours to pass on an infection and you need to make sure you get the whole thing out attached.

Crikey we are rural and I can count on one hand the incidences we have had wjth ticks and dogs in 10 years luckily. Dogs are on Nexguard which is a once a month tablet for all ticks and fleas and they just drop off. We have never ever had a problem with them... I do wear leg coverings for dog walks as long grass here and just not worth the risk. But I've clearly been lucky!

I'm so sorry but it's not always 48 hours although the longer they're attached the more likely the infection is passed on.

www.lymedisease.org/lyme-disease-myths/

My GP told me a story about a baby in nappies with a bullseye rash. The baby had been playing on the lawn (without a nappy on) and a tick attached. The tick can't have been attached for more than a few minutes and the baby was taken inside to get dressed and the parents found the tick and removed it. A bullseye rash then occurred.

I'm just outside Crieff and had Lyme about 2 years ago and was very poorly. I found a tick on my hand when I took my gloves off after riding - didn't think much of it as it was so tiny, so just scraped it off on a rock.

A month later I got the bullseye rash and tbh, had it not been on my hand I probably would NEVER have noticed (I'm single).

I'd always believed that a tick needed to be on you for days and engorged to transmit Lyme - apparently not!

My photos/case are now used at Ninewells for training new medics.

I believe the rise in ticks/Lyme is directly correlated to us stopping with sheep-dipping in the 90s (?) - my farmer friends tend to agree.

@AlphabetAerobics

I’m sorry that sounds awful, hope you’ve recovered.

I wonder if you scrapped it off on a rock that you got the whole thing out as they can be so small maybe you left it’s head in?

The simple plastic tick twisters we find best. Cheap and easy to use .

Tweezers or the metal twisters are too easy to accidentally squeeze tick which you don’t want to do. And those ‘gadgets’ you push in etc just don’t work. Especially if you using on a pet as they are moving.

They climb up your body looking for warm place. That’s why they often end up on the head face and neck. Behind the ears is often where we find them on the kids

Do they like a certain “type” of blood? I think I have blood repellent to mosquitos and midges as I never get bitten even when others near me are being ravaged. Given we are out in the hills and in the woods all the time and I’ve never been bitten, I wonder if they have a type? Or might just have been lucky!