Ticks

[GotSmart]

[font=Arial, Georgia, sans-serif]http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/[/SIZE][/font][/size]

[font=Arial, Georgia, sans-serif]8 Foods to Defend Against Bug Bites[/font]
[font=Montserrat, sans-serif][size=medium][font=Montserrat, sans-serif]BY GEORGE MIATA[/font][/font]
[font=Montserrat, sans-serif][font=Montserrat, sans-serif]1.4KSHARES
http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#

[size=medium][img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...ds-bug-bites-garlic-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
1. Garlic
Several days before you take a camping or hiking trip into bug-filled territory, start eating garlic. Have a clove or two every day. As you sweat out the garlic odor, it repels many insects. Maybe this is where the myth of garlic repelling bloodsuckers came from!
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...oods-bug-bites-milk-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]

2. Milk
If your skin feels like it’s burning up from too much sun exposure or if itchy bug bites are driving you crazy, try using a little milk paste for soothing relief. Mix one part powdered milk with two parts water and add a pinch or two of salt. Dab it on the burn or bite. The enzymes in the milk powder will help neutralize the insect-bite venom and help relieve sunburn pain.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...oods-bug-bites-salt-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
3. Salt
For relief from the itching of mosquito and chigger bites, soak the area in salt water, then apply a coating of lard or vegetable oil.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...bug-bites-olive-oil-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
4. Olive Oil
It’s so satisfying to watch birds enjoying the garden bath you provide. But unfortunately, that still water is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Floating a few tablespoons of vegetable oil on the surface of the water will help keep mosquitoes from using the water, and it won’t bother the birds. But it’s still important to change the water twice a week so any larvae don’t have time to hatch.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...ds-bug-bites-onions-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
5. Onions
Rubbing a slice of onion over your skin can be a good way to keep away mosquitoes and other biting insects.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...-bites-orange-peels-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
6. Orange and Lemon Peels
If you’re not crazy about the idea of rubbing onions all over yourself to keep away mosquitoes, you may be happy to know that you can often get similar results by rubbing fresh orange or lemon peels over your exposed skin. It’s said that mosquitoes and gnats are totally repulsed by either scent.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...bites-cider-vinegar-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
7. Apple Cider Vinegar
Planning a camping trip? Here’s an old army trick to keep away the ticks and mosquitoes: Approximately three days before you leave, start taking 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar three times a day. Continue using the vinegar throughout your trek, and you just might return home without a bite. Another time-honored approach to keep gnats and mosquitoes at bay is to moisten a cloth or cotton ball with white vinegar and rub it over your exposed skin.
[img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload...s-bug-bites-vanilla-1024x683.jpg[/img][/SIZE]
8. Vanilla
Everybody likes the smell of vanilla. Everybody but bugs, that is. Dilute 1 tablespoon vanilla extract with 1 cup water and wipe the mixture on your exposed skin to discourage mosquitoes, blackflies, and ticks.[/font][/font]

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

[font=Montserrat, sans-serif][font=Montserrat, sans-serif][size=medium][size=medium] . . . start taking 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar three times a day. [/size][/font][/font][/size]

A work of caution:  if you take apple cider vinegar make sure you dilute it; at least 8 oz of water per tablespoon.  It can damage your esophagus.

 -- Spiff

 

[IanC]

I got a haircut this morning. The lady who cut my hair said that the ticks this year have been a big topic of conversation. She has had Lyme disease herself. When she started getting sick the doctor said not to worry since Lyme is rare in Tennessee, but after she wasn't getting welll she went to another doctor who tested her and sure enough it was Lyme.

I checked out the Permethrin at Walmart. The bottle says it treats 2 outfits (pants, shirt and socks). Seemed like a pretty steep price for such small coverage. I'm trying the Repel instead and just keeping my boots and pants legs sprayed - see how that works. I did a big laundry today - all my blankets, etc and sprayed the mattress.

The cat's getting her bath this afternoon. I hate to see what I'll find on her.

 

[IanC]

[font=Arial, Georgia, sans-serif]http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/[/SIZE][/font][/size]

[font=Arial, Georgia, sans-serif]8 Foods to Defend Against Bug Bites[/font]
[font=Montserrat, sans-serif][size=medium][font=Montserrat, sans-serif]BY GEORGE MIATA[/font][/font]
[font=Montserrat, sans-serif][font=Montserrat, sans-serif]1.4KSHARES
http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/#

[size=medium][img=640x0]http://www.rd.com/wp-content/upload....jpg[/img][/SIZE][/size][/font][/font][/size]

Plus, you'll be delicious

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Ticks are the talk of my town at the moment. At the local bar last night and a guy there is a teacher for 6th grade, said the nurses office has been over run with kids and ticks on them. They cancelled recess until they can get the fields treated. I swear tick born illnesses are going to be our next epidemic, Drs are way behind the 8 ball on education and acceptance that they exist, they're serious and they're real.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I felt a couple crawling on me last night and I've had the creeps all day. Although I've stripped down and done a full search, I still feel like I have them on me. Driving me nuts.

It's the worst!  It takes me a few days with out finding one to finally feel like there's none on me.  About the exact same time I find the next one.

 

[IanC]

Drs are way behind the 8 ball on education and acceptance that they exist, they're serious and they're real.

I can't believe that they have to send out the bloodwork to a lab (according to the lady I spoke to).  You'd think that by now there would be an easy in-office test for Lyme. Delaying treatment for another 2 weeks can only be bad.

Cat got her bath -no ticks on her.  I know that when I had a flea infestation once, just treating the dog with Frontline cleared the whole house of them.

The barber said she got chickens to clear her yard of ticks and it worked (maybe it will for you too if you let them foam free).  She doesn't eat the eggs but in typical Southern hospitality she told me to come back on Monday and she'd have a dozen fresh ones for me.

 Another (off topic) Southern hospitality story.  At the laundromat I was standing in front of the Coke machine deciding if I wanted to spend $1.25 (I'm very cheap).  The owner came over and opened the machine and said "help yourself".  Must have seen me counting my quarters and thought I didn't have the cash. Offered the other customers a soda too.

 

[VJG1977]

I got a haircut this morning.  The lady who cut my hair said that the ticks this year have been a big topic of conversation.  She has had Lyme disease herself.  When she started getting sick the doctor said not to worry since Lyme is rare in Tennessee, but after she wasn't getting welll she went to another doctor who tested her and sure enough it was Lyme.

I'm in Tennessee and I got Lyme disease in 1988 when I was 34.  I thought I had a summer flu and one morning I woke up covered in spots like the measles.   I called a doctor's office and they had me come in a back door.  The doctor took one look at me and started me on antibiotics with a shot and pills.  They drew blood for the test and sent me home.  The test came back positive for Lyme.  They ran another test also positive. I think I stayed on two antibiotics for three weeks.  It was caught early and the antibiotics cleared it up.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I can't believe that they have to send out the bloodwork to a lab (according to the lady I spoke to).  You'd think that by now there would be an easy in-office test for Lyme. Delaying treatment for another 2 weeks can only be bad.

The barber said she got chickens to clear her yard of ticks and it worked (maybe it will for you too if you let them foam free).  She doesn't eat the eggs but in typical Southern hospitality she told me to come back on Monday and she'd have a dozen fresh ones for me.

Lyme tests are highly inaccurate too, they often show both a false positive and false negative.  I think you can also be tested too soon, before it will show up on a blood test.  There is a specialty lab in California for lyme disease tests that's much better than other labs, why I don't know.  And most insurance won't cover it, but medicare does thankfully.  It wasn't til I was on Medicare and had that lab do my testing that we got the definitive positive result.  

I had been planning on getting chickens and was just told by a few people in the area that Guinea fowl are tick eating machines.  They said chickens help a lot and guinea fowl will completely eradicate every last one.  So, tomorrows project is head to the local lumber mill and grab a load of rough sawn lumber and start building me a coop.  Gonna grab a dozen Guinea Fowl to start.  I have a few hundred empty acres behind my house, see how long it takes for the predators to move in on them.  Ill free range em during the day and lock em in the coop at night.  

Cool story about the Coke, it's the little things like that, that can restore your faith in humanity.

 

[Lotsahorses]

FWIW, it is generally accepted by researchers that an infected tick must be "attached" for at least 24 hours before it can transmit disease.

 

[Kathleen]

I had been planning on getting chickens and was just told by a few people in the area that Guinea fowl are tick eating machines. 

Hmmm, I don't own a dog or cat. Wonder if I could bring a Guinea fowl with me on a trip?

Years ago after walking by the stream I took a nap under tall pine trees in NM forest.

3 days later I was eating dinner at a nice restaurant with my son and a friend. I felt something crawling on my head.

I flicked it off. It fell on the table top. Ugghh, a tick! And it had been on me for 3 whole days without me noticing it.

Tick checks are now on my to do list.

 

[Gary68]

i'm a garlic nut so that explains why i dont have ticks and are single

they dont i.d. lyme disease,they i.d. the antibodies you make to fight it,so test to soon no lyme antibodies,it's a hard one to get a proper diagnosis and affects each person differently,some just fatigue,some full system shutdown

 

[GotSmart]

Opossums are good for more than just stew.

 

[Queen]

I love possums, had one live it's whole life under my shed, I cleared the snow away from the burrow opening as needed but otherwise we left each other alone.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

FWIW, it is generally accepted by researchers that an infected tick must be "attached" for at least 24 hours before it can transmit disease.

That's another widely debated topic, some think it can be as quick as a few hours.  I don't think they honestly know.  Ticks don't like everyone either,  my friend is a landscaper and he does tons of brush clearing in South Eastern Mass which is loaded with ticks, at the end of the day his helpers will have quite a few between them and he never has any.  Said he has no idea why, but he's in the same brush as they are all day.  I seeem to be a magnet for them