Ticks

[Andy Kev.]

The horrible little things as opposed to the marks in homework books.

A week last Thursday I was having a shower and found what I thought was a small scab on my shin. It turned out to be a tick but it had buried itself too far in to be pulled out. So off to the doc. After much grubbing around with a scalpel, he hooked it out. There followed 10 days of antibiotics and the caution to wait two weeks to see if it has given me viral encephalitis (“... but don’t worry because I’ve only seen one case in 30 years”).

So assuming it’s all clear by next Thursday, he’s going to give me the jab against the latter.

I think the moral of the story is: get the jab if you can because you won’t regret it if you discover one of the little b@@gers on you.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The trick used to be to invert a bottle of surgical spirit over it until it suffocated and let go. Lyme disease is another thing carried by them, iirc.

 

[Trevanion]

I guess you must’ve been... pretty TICKed off! Ha ha!

God, that was terrible.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I always have a pair of tick tweezers in my pack. Only needed them once, but they did the trick. I'm sure I have read somewhere not to use alcohol on them ?

 

[Argus]

Where I live in mid Wales, sheep outnumber people 3 or 4 to one and ticks outnumber sheep many times over...... it always amuses me to see holiday people in sandals striding through the fields......

However, as well as ticks we also have a problem sometimes with midges.
In hot weather, the foresters around here are stripped of down to their tattoos and smear themselves in Avon 'Skin-so-Soft' a cosmetic skin treatment - believe it or not, it works, around 90% effective on midges, also tends to confuse ticks, I'm told though I don't know for sure.

But, back to the subject of ticks:

Ticks also respond (adversely for them) to insect-bite zappers. These things are intended to deliver a 10,000 ac volt zap to the site of a previous insect bite, and they are very effective for that. As far as ticks go, a drop of water on top and few quick and rapid zaps with one of those removes their will to live.....permanently - importantly, they don't have a chance to inject any substances if you are quick.

Then, it's onward and upward excavating the corpse with tweezers.

 

[MattS]

Never had a tick on me, but the dog has had a few. Its strangely satisfying using the little twist tool to lift them out!

 

[RogerS]

..... Avon 'Skin-so-Soft' a cosmetic skin treatment - believe it or not, it works, around 90% effective on midges, ...

I'm afraid our midges up here are made of sterner stuff. They laugh at 'Skin-so-soft'. The only thing that makes them leave me alone is to make sure that I'm only outside when the Midge Magnet is there. AKA the Missus, bless 'er.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mosquitos bite my loved one and not me, sandflies bite me and not her.

Cat fleas bite me, not her.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

My one tick experience was from Catbells in the lakes, which is infested with dog walkers, probably no coincidence.

Midges, yes, my DW also seems to serve very effectively in place of a Jam Boy. I went to the shop without her one evening in Glen Nevis, and had to sprint back to the house to escape them.

 

[AndyP]

Back in my yoof while wild camping in Scotland we did some exhaustive scientific research into midge repellents. Our conclusion was that Brut spay on deodorant was by far the most effective.

As a result of very bad hay fever I had a lot of antihistamine injected into me as a child and a consequence of which is that I still get bitten but do not suffer greatly from the bites, ie very little redness and hardly any irritation.

 

[Woodbloke]

However, as well as ticks we also have a problem sometimes with midges.
In hot weather, the foresters around here are stripped of down to their tattoos and smear themselves in Avon 'Skin-so-Soft' a cosmetic skin treatment - believe it or not, it works, around 90% effective on midges..

I remember hearing a tale, probably incorrect, that the Royal Marines and Para’s used to buy this stuff by the three ton truck load for use on their ‘strolls’ :eusa-whistle: across the Brecon Beacons etc. I since read that this is one of those service myths and there’s no truth in it whatsoever - Rob

 

[RogerS]

Back in my yoof while wild camping in Scotland we did some exhaustive scientific research into midge repellents. Our conclusion was that Brut spay on deodorant was by far the most effective.

As a result of very bad hay fever I had a lot of antihistamine injected into me as a child and a consequence of which is that I still get bitten but do not suffer greatly from the bites, ie very little redness and hardly any irritation.

You will now be forever known as 'Enry.

 

[Woodbloke]

Back in my yoof while wild camping in Scotland we did some exhaustive scientific research into midge repellents. Our conclusion was that Brut spay on deodorant was by far the most effective.

As a result of very bad hay fever I had a lot of antihistamine injected into me as a child and a consequence of which is that I still get bitten but do not suffer greatly from the bites, ie very little redness and hardly any irritation.

You will now be forever known as 'Enry.

Or Vinny :lol: - Rob

 

[Just4fun]

Back in my yoof while wild camping in Scotland we did some exhaustive scientific research into midge repellents. Our conclusion was that Brut spay on deodorant was by far the most effective.

Interesting. Who would have guess that midges and humans are repelled by the same thing?