www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Hi
With spring certainly well upon us, and most of us now making increasingly frequent forays into the countryside, it is a good idea to gen up on the problem of ticks again.
This is a good website with information on avoiding ticks, removal of ticks, and recognising the diseases associated with tick bites.
http://www.tickbitepreventionweek.org/index.html
I particularly like the idea of becoming someone’s Tick Buddy to help look for ticks in their inaccessible places - any volunteers?

Over the last two years I guess I've had at least 100 of these little b****rs. The worst places being Fontmell Down in Dorset, Arnside Knott in Cumbria and Glasdrum Wood.

Me and the Mrs are Tick buddies and they can find themselves in some extremely difficult to see and remove places. All adds to the spice of life.

Rangers on Scottish estates where Limes disease is present recommend removal of the ticks purely by pulling them out as soon as possible. The longer they are feeding the more chance of catching the disease. Some sources state that the ticks will only pass on Limes after they have been attached for in excess of 48 hours. Apparently the cigarette and other methods only induce the tick to vomit back into the wound and this is apparently the easiest way to catch Limes. Limes is bacterial so early treatment with antibiotics will prevent serious symptoms and remove the disease.

Watch out for the very small larval ticks as they appear like a tiny speck of dust when first attached and are sometimes only spotted after they have grown by consuming your blood.

DEET is great for stopping them in their tracks mainly as they proceed up your legs. I use 50% DEET as any stronger may be a health risk and is normally only used on tents and certain clothing.

A good pair of tick tweezers is a great help, especially if you have large, clumsy fingers. These are available from any pet store.

The tweezers should have a 'cupping' round head, so the body of the tick is not squeezed (they reach round the body to grip the head), and should grip when released so you can rotate them gently and slowly without having to maintain the grip.

I'm removed hundreds fom myself and the dog without leaving any marks.

Guy

I used to always get deer tics on me whenever I went out, particularly if I was on Shapwick Heath, the New Forest, or any downland in Wilts or Dorset. I have had countless numbers on me over the years. I never used to worry about them too much, and just whipped them off with a pair of forceps or left them to drop.

Sadly these days, possibly due to the number of bites that I have had, I am now particularly allergic to them. Any bite, no matter how small the tic or how brief it's visit, results in a ghastly itching sore which lasts for weeks. I am pocked with scars from these. Odly, my intolerance to tic bites has also tied in with a reaction to certain red meats, but that's another story...

Deet is so dreadful I can't bear to use it on my skin (and there are too many inconvenient precautions around it's use), but I do find that a substance called 'PreVent' (made from some plant extract or other) works wonders, as does 'Mosi-Guard'. I am safe from tics whenever either is applied and heartily recommend both products.

The 'tic tweezers' that Guy recommends can be obtained from most veterinary surgeries free of charge.

Felix.

I rolled all over Fontmell Down last season,,, never had a problem. However,, my bloodstream consists mainly, of alcohol and warfarin, with a little digitalis thrown in. I've had adders drop off me ,, DEAD! The trick with poisonous things, is to be a bit more poisonous than they are.

I got my tic removers from this EBay link.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OTOM-TICK-REMOVER ... 2a0e88f142
The profits go the Lime's Disease support group.

I seem to suffer a great deal more since I gave up smoking. Perhaps some of our renowned "puffers" like Neil or Nick would like to comment. I don't think it is an adequate reason to take up the weed again though.
I usually wear light coloured clothing so I can see the little bu**ers climbing sround.
Also, if I am in an area which is really bad, I tuck my trousers into my socks.
Despite all this I also get loads every year. I think my worst was about 8 or 10 in one day on Exmoor chasing Heath Frits through bracken. These ranged from pin head sized ones to one monster that must have taken "very nearly an arm full" and nestled somewhere very warm, dark and inaccessible!!! Ugh.....
My "Tick Buddy" really enjoyed ripping that one out.

That's the thing - thems is the ones that the vetinaranarians give out.

rodgerdodge:

I seem to suffer a great deal more since I gave up smoking.

See my point?
Nicotine is a poison and keeps loads of stuff at bay, except 'lung cancer' of course, it maybe prevented these ticks biting you at the time. I gave up smoking some years ago, and when i did this, everything hit me 'bigtime',,,, mouth ulcers being the worst.

padfield wrote: The tweezers should have a 'cupping' round head, so the body of the tick is not squeezed (they reach round the body to grip the head), and should grip when released so you can rotate them gently and slowly without having to maintain the grip.

Guy

Clockwise or anticlockwise? I was told once after an embarrassing session at an NHS drop-in centre that this mattered, but in the excitement of the moment, I seem to have forgotten...

Dave

I had no idea it mattered, but I always do it anticlockwise, by habit. Pull gently, while twisting, and they just release their grip.

Guy

Widdershins

Withershins?

Withershins/Widdershins = AntiClockwise
(thank you Google)

Correct. Widdershins. That's the way to twist 'em

Many thanks to all of you. Not likely to forget now...

Widdershins appears to have real German roots (I had to look it up), despite it sounding like a word from Lewis Carroll.

Dave

Why do I know it as 'withershins'?

(I don't really 'do' google, but if somebody else would like to investigate the etymology (I can't locate my copy of C.T.Onions) I would be grateful).

My pocket book of word origins says that widdershins comes from Middle High German (1100-1500) "wider" (back, against, again) and "sinnen" (to go).

I would guess that "wither" for "widder" is one of those slight pronounciation changes over the years (there's a word for this, but I've forgotten it).

Dave

Modern English has a particularly marked distinction between 'th' and 'd', because the sounds are made in different places - 'th' is dental, while 'd' is usually made with the tip of the tongue against the palate, not the teeth. In many languages the difference is not so clear. In Spanish, for example, 'd' is pronounced as an Englishman would say 'th'. In French and many classical languages 'd' is truly dental (though it still sounds more like 'd' than 'th'). It is very common for sound changes to occur over time in this group of consonants.

Modern German has 'wider' for 'against' but we still retain the Old English 'th' sound in the word 'with'. The original meaning of 'with' was 'against', as in 'withstand' and 'withhold', but at some quite early stage it shifted to a sense of association.

Guy

Felix - if you can't find your Onions, there's a very respectable online etymological dictionary at http://www.etymonline.com/. I frequently browse it when I'm getting bored watching kids sit exams. An interesting bit of trivia from here is that the etymology of 'dog' is unknown.

I love this forum, I learn something new all the time.

I learnt (learned? which is correct? - probably neither and I should say discovered) the word via Terry Pratchett and his Discworld stories many years ago and have been using it ever since. Widdershins slips off the tongue so much more pleasantly than anti-clockwise*. I don't use deosil (for clockwise) though as a rule.

*As another aside, I think anti-clockwise is actually incorrect useage anyway and it should be counter-clockwise.

Anyway, back to ticks, I use tweezers when removing them from hedgehogs but shall invest in some of the above super-dooper ones which look fab.

I do wonder what you lot do to get so covered in ticks. I've not had one so far.

Susie wrote:*As another aside, I think anti-clockwise is actually incorrect useage anyway and it should be counter-clockwise.

I understand 'anticlockwise' to be the normal British usage and 'counter-clockwise' the normal US equivalent. Both are listed in Chambers.

You use great words, Susie!

Guy

PS - purists prefer 'learnt'.