Common Tick Behaviors and How to Stay Protected Every Day

In Northern CA, the blue bellied fence lizard cleans ticks. Tick larvae who have fed on mice and become infected (with Anaplasma or Lymn) and then feed as nyphs on lizards are cleansed of the pathogen. Tick larvae and nyphs who have fed exclusively on these lizards remain clean. The lizards do not get these diseases. I guess the cleansing agent is lizard antibody to Anaplasma and Lymn. Could be some other immune factor but likely antibodies. Nymph and larvae ticks have tiny mouth parts and so prefer to prey on small hosts that have thinner skin vs. trying to bite into a deer's hide. Adult ticks are more likely to quest for deer, dogs, foxes, coyotes, etc.

This past summer, my husband and I wore shorts and and we carried tape with us and we would tape the ticks off as soon as we would feel them crawling up our legs. We must have gotten a few hundred in all. Then twice, we took a white towel and went around the edge of the yard and went across all of the taller grass and wild shrubs are growing at the edge of the trees and dragged the towel across. It didn't take long but both times we got over 500 ticks. Then we just took a lint roller (tape) and took all of the ticks off of the towel. (If we could afford it, we would have just tossed the towels in a barrel and burned them). Just make sure you fold the tape and don't get it wet. I put the folded tape in a bucket and left it outside. When it rained the next day, the tape loosened up and almost all of the ticks were still alive and crawled out and they were crawling on everything around the house including the mower I set the bucket on. It's not ideal but we are outside almost every day and we don't want to have chemicals on or near us long term. We're going to try to get chickens and guineas next year. We've been told by people who had them, they they never had a tick problem.

I can't imagine that there would be any harmful effects if ticks were eradicated from the planet. There are plenty of bugs to be eaten and it doesn't really seem like anyone is eating the ticks anyway since there are so many. The poor deer in our area are covered with ticks especially their faces and ears.....they have hundreds on them. We saw three baby deer this summer in our yard and their little faces and ears were just covered with ticks, their eyes were swollen shut because of the ticks and none of them survived. I don't know if that was the reason but I'm sure it didn't help especially if you can't see.

I generally get one to three tics every time I go into the forest, which is more than once a week in tic season. Had Lyme disease once that I had treated, years ago.
The one precaution I do is to take my clothes off and leave them in a heap when I get home, if I can be bothered.
Why are people so hysterical about tics? I just pull them out and throw them away. Its like a mosquito bite.

Ticks have their offspring in nests....when they fall off a tree they come down in large amounts

What is the best yard treatment products

Wouldn’t the answer to eliminate ticks be finding a way to protect all wildlife from them?

I have alpha-gal from a tick bite it made me very allergic to all pesticides. I feel terrible after wearing permethrin treated clothing.

If something was designed to entice an animal to eat and then while eating the animal could be sprayed with a treatment that would kill ticks. I would spend my money to help these animals. I’ve seen so many suffering in my yards this year because they are covered up with ticks. I think as much as people love animals you would find many people willing to help. The key is it must be safe. It can’t harm the animal or anything that would eat the animal, and it must be safe for all waterways, when the animal crosses through a creek, river, or lake.

How many times can you wash treated socks and clothing before they're no longer treated?

We need to be developing a strategy to eliminate ticks and the diseases they spread.

Dany Grondin
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Wondering about Picarithin on the skin…(seem deet is not excellent)

It’s better to be informed instead of afraid. Thank you for giving me my Summer back!

As a bow hunter.....I really really really hate ticks. Permethrin-treated clothing, shoes, gloves, socks, hats (just in case I'm going through brush and one of those guys is at head height), etc., is the ONLY way I venture out into tick habitats. Permethrin. The stuff works.

As someone on my way to the Hudson Valley all of this information is so helpful and informative for this tick-heavy region, thank you for sharing!

I wish this were available 60 years ago, but I’m glad it’s available now ❣️
I have a few “flavors”, and one is a live parasite! Yuck!!

Thank you!!!!!

Curious as to which study Dr. Mather finds the most compelling and convincing evidence that borrelia Burgdorferi causes Lyme disease. I would really love to read that study. Thanks Insect Shield and Dr. Mather!