Can anyone confirm if its true that farmers have been finding unusual amounts of lone star ticks

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

Took my dog to the vet the other day for a yearly visit. We had been in the woods the day before, and I had pulled a few off of him. Halfway through the exam the vet looks down and sees blood on the floor and realizes it’s a squashed tick. Then we notice the floor is literally crawling with them. They were engorged nymphs, and very tiny. He must have ran through a nest of them or something, but it was absolutely disgusting. I stopped counting in the mid 30s. Pulled another 15-20 off of him when we got home. I’ve had dogs my whole life, some that were even full-time outdoor dogs, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

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MayaRandall@reddit

I used to help street dogs in Mumbai, India and personally had to pull 200+ seed ticks off of a puppy one day. That puppy is now six years old and lives with me in California…happy and healthy but has Ehrlichiosis from that experience.

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aggressiveleeks@reddit

What are the symptoms of Ehrlichiosus in your dog?

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shenan@reddit

nope!

gif

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GardenPowerful8243@reddit

My dog got it and it was horrendous. Her legs gave out over the course of an afternoon, she was immobilized. Having to carry my baby 1/2 a mile to the car thinking she had nerve damage was devastating.

She has to get checked out from time to time but it is managed with cycles of doxycycline (though we call it Dogxycycline) so she is a 13+ year old lady and still moving like a puppy

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No_Possible_7108@reddit

What a legend

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rvanasty@reddit

Had a dog get in a nest, if I said thousands I might right. At first I thought she had run through dirt so didnt pay much mind. As she got closer the dirt seemed to move. I grabbed her leg to look and my god. Never seen anything like it. Thankfully had tick shampoo and threw her in the shower. The dead ticks clogged the drain-stopper.

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Trinaaahhh@reddit

Wtf

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SnooKiwis2161@reddit

Tick nests are the worst. Hundreds of the little bastards.

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

I forgot the best (worst?) part. Every step I took was accompanied by the sound of ticks popping under my shoes. The floor, and the soles of my shoes, looked like a battlefield. And that “pop” sound will be forever embedded in my brain.

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ripple_in_stillwater@reddit

I was barefoot, even better.

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terrierhead@reddit

High octane nightmare fuel

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PlanXerox@reddit

Saw that in Virginia in the 80's....grape sized ticks on dogs...100's.

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ripple_in_stillwater@reddit

I had that with my dog once. I brought her in and saw the little spots of blood everywhere. Frantically cleaned everything up and could barely sleep in the house for a while. Good news was that somehow I didn't get a single tick from that episode. I agree, have had dogs my whole life and lived in a very ticky place and had never seen that before.

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StrawberryFailcake@reddit

That's horrifying! Is your dog on any tick prevention meds? Just wondering if meds don't work when dogs are exposed to that many ticks at once 😰

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

I gave a longer answer above, but he had run out of meds and we hadn’t had a chance to get more. They work great when he’s on them, but life has been chaotic the last couple months and we hadn’t had a chance to get it refilled. That’s one of the main reasons we were at the vet.

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rollingthebone@reddit

My dog wears an orange reflective vest soaked in permethrin when we go hiking. I highly recommend it. It only covers about half of his body but it makes a huge difference in the number of ticks I find on him.

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the_real_maddison@reddit

We don't live in super wet country, we're mostly high and dry up here (and out of lone star range,) but I bit the bullet and got my dog Nexgard in mid March because I started seeing other flying bugs out. So glad I did. We live on pasture.

We didn't really have a winter this year either 😔

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StrawberryFailcake@reddit

Gotcha! I'm glad your doggo is back on meds and they work well. Your situation probably almost happened to me too because my dogs were also off meds for a few months, but I wasn't too concerned because it's been a long winter here. But literally the day before my dogs got back on meds, I found a deer tick in the house for the first time EVER. I can't imagine seeing dozens at once 😮‍💨

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bearfootmedic@reddit

Have you tried oral flea and tick medicine? I pulled a dead lone star tick off my dog last night - it works really well in my experience!

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

We have! And that’s actually why we were at the vet - he had run out and we were a month or so behind on his dose. It works great when he’s on it, life had just caught up with us and we were behind on the dosage.

(Also - he’s a very very well taken care of French Brittany, and I check him for ticks almost daily. But, he’s a birddog and does birddog things like busting through super thick brush in search of god knows what. And that’s where the ticks live. Just didn’t want folks to think I’m neglecting my dog.)

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

Obligatory pic of him.

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ur-a-wizard-harriet@reddit

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hidden_moose@reddit

gif

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AppropriateCattle69@reddit

We have! And that’s actually why we were at the vet - he had run out and we were a month or so behind on his dose. It works great when he’s on it, life had just caught up with us and we were behind on the dosage.

(Also - he’s a very very well taken care of French Brittany, and I check him for ticks almost daily. But, he’s a birddog and does birddog things like busting through super thick brush in search of god knows what. And that’s where the ticks live. Just didn’t want folks to think I’m neglecting my dog.)

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MagicHugsforThee@reddit

What a horrible day to have eyes. Good god.

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MightyMTB@reddit

It’s pretty well documented online by multiple sources there is rise in Lone Star tick populations,

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

Speaking as someone from deep south Texas, we didn't have a winter.

I would advise pulling out the big guns for flea, tick, and mosquito control.

I've had my 'buckets of death' mosquito control solution going since November. I am seeing Houston area level mosquito activity, and I am on the transitional edge of the Gulf Coastal Plaines into the the Sonoran Desert.

"Houston area activity" is where once you park your car and are preparing to exit you can see multiple mosquitos waiting for you. The ministry is >10 mosquitos per vehicle window.

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SilentPhilosophy3307@reddit

I don't mess around with Houston mosquitos, them sonsofbitches are big enough that they can stand flat-footed and fuck a chicken.

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Ashamed-Status-9668@reddit

I went to Canada on a fishing trip when its first warning up. As a Texan I thought our mosquitos were big but they are nothing compared to those in Canada.

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schrodingerspavlov@reddit

Same with Alaska, surprisingly large mozzies there!

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AcanthopterygiiNo229@reddit

In Capreol, Canada there was a small corner store that sold mosquito traps that looked like a mini foothold traps as a gag gift.

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TheOtherBelushi@reddit

I’ve never had someone so succinctly describe my sex life.

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benjunior@reddit

At least the mosquitos are packing more girth than my teenis.

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Hesitation-Marx@reddit

Pure poetry

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literallyavillain@reddit

r/brandnewsentence

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xChoke1x@reddit

I’m in Ohio where we did have a pretty ruff winter and the ticks and mosquitoes are already a problem.

Pay attention yall. It’s gonna be a ruff year with ticks. Much like everything else.

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WhatIsHerJob-TABLES@reddit

What exactly is this mosquito bucket of death? I’m intrigued to make one myself lol. Whats the process/set up?

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Worshipme988@reddit

FBI check this persons laptop and then send them over to my place. Anyone that reads “bucket of death”, and without knowing what it is, they’re ready to ride, is 100% on my team. Lmao

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GWS2004@reddit

Poison that kills MANY other insects other than mosquitoes and travels up the food chain.

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

Mosquito dunks are not poison and do not travel up the food chain.

It's a bacteria, bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) suspended in a grain substrate. It works on mosquitos because their digestive system is alkaline based. It's non-toxic to everything else.

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TeaSea5699@reddit

Its a bucket from home Depot or whatever filled up most of the way with water, chuck a handful of just yard/plant clippings in there and 1/4-1/2 of a mosquito dunk. It kills the eggs and breaks the cycle. Supposed to dump out half the bucket and refresh every 3-4w with more water, dunk and clippings.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXwidQluqmK/?igsh=NmEyNzMwb3Y1cG05

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ALIMN21@reddit

How many buckets do you recommend having going at a time?

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

I just had one going and it did make a big difference after a few weeks.

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ALIMN21@reddit

Thanks

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

One per 10,000 square feet of lawn space.

In bad mosquito years I have to towel my dogs off before they can come in, or I get bitten too

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refinancemenow@reddit

I keep a box fan running by the main door we come in (it’s in the garage). It helps a lot

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Ashamed-Status-9668@reddit

My trashy neighbor has a couple bird baths and a plastic fish pond near the property line that she doesn't maintain. I toss some Mosquito Bits which are basically small chunks of the mosquito dunks, in each standing pool of water. It really does help.

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Interesting_Praline@reddit

Love Toni farmer!

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SeaCounter9516@reddit

How do those bucket traps work for you? I’ve been debating it but have worried it might end up attracting more to the yard even if it does neutralize the offspring

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LongLittleToe@reddit

Buckets of doom don’t work. You draw mosquitoes to your yard constantly. Yes larva die but the adults come from elsewhere. They should be called “buckets of increased mosquito activity”. Treat standing water (your yard, ditches, old tires, bird baths etc) with dunks, loop in neighbors to do the same, call your LHD and ask if they have a mosquito program and if/when they spray. Wear repellent and consider treating “outdoors/work/play” cloths with .5% permethrin.

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KadRendar@reddit

Permethrin is horrifically envirotoxic. It can wreak havoc on nearby aquatic environments and indiscriminately kills insects whether they are pest or beneficial to humans and/or the ecosystem.

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LongLittleToe@reddit

The majority of that is damage caused by large outdoor use and runoff not from being sprayed on clothes to dry.

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GWS2004@reddit

And what do you think happens to the water when you wash those clothes?

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LongLittleToe@reddit

Half life is about 27 hours in water. So by the time it reaches the water treatment plant it’s gone. But even then the amount on the clothes is small. Unless you’re washing your clothes in a river of course.

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

Kills fireflies.

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DLegghead@reddit

Oh good, Im glad so manu fisherman near me like to cover themselves in it before they go fish in the creek.

Between that and all the industrial agriculture no wonder my state has insanely polluted water

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

The bucket did make a difference last year in my yard. My neighbors have a bunch of leaf litter and their home irrigation keeps it eternally damp. It's asian tiger mosquito heaven. (It's also lightning bug heaven so they don't want to chemically treat it.)

Breaking the life cycle and stopping those waves of larvae from becoming adults did make a noticable difference after about a month.

My area is generally pretty dry without a lot of areas for standing water to really gather. We have pockets of mosquito activity. The bucket is great for that.

If I lived in Houston or at the coast I wouldn't bother with the bucket. The mosquitos would just laugh at it.

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LongLittleToe@reddit

Unless you’re neighbors yard is being treated your just inviting their adult mosquitoes to your yard too. Your larva dies in a bucket theirs spawn more adult mosquitoes. 1 female lays between 100-300 eggs 3-4 times every couple of days in multiple breeding sites. If any other breeding site exists near your bucket, your bucket won’t have an effect.

Being dry or cold most of the year will prevent them from becoming too much of a nuisance. But there are drought resistant skeeters that stay in the soil waiting for rain. That is to say some mosquitoes don’t need standing water at all.

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

There are only mosquitoes in soil in limited areas of the United States, buckets of death really works, read my previous comment

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LongLittleToe@reddit

That was just an example that mosquitos don’t rely on the buckets to complete the life cycle. They use anything available and not just one source. Your bucket is killing larva but only in the bucket. Does nothing to adult mosquitoes who will lay eggs elsewhere.

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

It does in fact reduce numbers

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LongLittleToe@reddit

It doesn’t but you’re free to keep putting buckets in your yard. If it helps you feel better about it, then go for it.

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

It literally does work. Mozzies have a one mile hunting area. Consumer Reports did a study on it, as did a couple of universities.

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LongLittleToe@reddit

It only works if everyone does it. If everyone does it then you only treat standing water. You don’t need to create habitats to treat in, they already exist.

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Salute-Major-Echidna@reddit

"Treat?" No idea what youre on about

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LongLittleToe@reddit

Let me define it for you. "Treat" refers to acting toward someone in a specific manner, providing medical care, covering expenses for another's enjoyment, or applying substances to materials.

You treat water sources with dunks to kill larva.

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OsamaBinWhiskers@reddit

Do those buckets work?

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ElGatoMeooooww@reddit

I don’t know how it works in Texas but I have been really successful with Tick Tubes in the NE

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

I had never heard of those, but it looks like a good idea.

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danny2mo@reddit

I’ve done these buckets of death but my neighbors have standing water in their backyard or over water after a rain storm. I’m in SA and the end of last week brought some rain yet my neighbors water their lawn

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

Omg my neighbors had irrigation going during the flash flood warning. It was ridiculous.

I'm up in the aquifer recharge zone. Water doesn't stand long there before it drains away through the limestone.

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povertyandpinetrees@reddit

Shit on a cracker, that probably means a bumper crop of termites here in North Louisianastan.

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Hi_InternetAddiction@reddit

that sounds like fun

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artdecodisaster@reddit

I’m in near STL and our winters aren’t cold enough anymore. I had mosquitoes coming into the house all winter long. It’s past time to start my own buckets of death.

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Tatt2218@reddit

Cold weather doesn’t kill ticks

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Girafferage@reddit

Doing the same with those buckets where I'm at and also chucking the pucks into the woods by me where rain makes temporary swamps. Camping is a nightmare. You run inside your tebt and are literally kept awake by the buzzing and sound of thousands of mosquito bodies slamming against the netting over and over.

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MightyMTB@reddit

Lack of winter is definitely a big part of it. I’m in SC and it was similar. Many winter days in shorts wondering why it was still so hot. We’ve been in a drought, I’m just waiting for us to get some regular rain and see ticks and skeeters come out the woodworks.

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puddingboofer@reddit

They're making their way north for sure. They're up around Chicago now but still on the south side afaik. I get them frequently when off the trail around Braidwood.

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Pdxfunjunkie@reddit

Oak mites will also ruin your spring.

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ctnerb@reddit

I pulled four off me in east KY last weekend, they hadn’t latched on yet. I was wearing permethrin sprayed clothes

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xChoke1x@reddit

Ticks are going to be fucking horrific this year. Much like everything else.

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Shake0nBelay@reddit

Friend of mine said he saw a box parachute into his farm field full of ticks. Hes not known to be a lier.

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Individual_Visit_756@reddit

Not one person has mentioned plum osland island. These ticks are not migrating, they are being relocated. What groups would agree with and have openly suggested the future can be saved with humans becoming vegetarian, not omnivores? They concide it must be forced upon us

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Price-x-Field@reddit

They want to reduce the amount of people that eat meat. They openly talk about this.

https://youtu.be/Is3QlfJZrFg?si=D74P9gKuWgJsT7xl

I know someone that this happened to. Rejected by doctors for decade + and was told it was just some random crazy thing. Not until recently did they actually find out it was from a tick.

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Foonzerz@reddit

I bet there are some vegans breeding and spreading them

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Watpotfaa@reddit

Not a farmer but I live on long island and spend a fair bit of time outdoors. Last decade+ has seen a constant increase of ticks. They absolutely infest the woods, they make their way into the lawn, ive had ticks crawl across the scorching hot asphalt of my driveway in the sun on a 90 degree day to come attempt to latch onto me while I am working under my car. They are absolutely fucking relentless. During the warm months you check yourself for ticks every single time you come in from outside because its almost guaranteed there will be one on you. Its disgusting. I even caught a blood parasite (babesia microti) from the fuckers last year and it had me sick as a dog for months until I finally got bloodwork that showed what the caused was.

There is no exaggeration or false alarm here. Tick populations are out of control and they are carrying extremely serious diseases.

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Exciting_Radish_1008@reddit

I live in Ohio. I had never even seen a Lone Star tick before this year! I don't think we had them in Ohio in the past. I'm super outdoorsy and I think I would have come across them if they were here before. I've probably seen 7 or 10 already this Spring.

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PoorClassWarRoom@reddit

SE Ohio. This is the first year I've had to pull ticks off my dog during and after a hike.

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offhandaxe@reddit

I have never seen a tick in my entire life in ohio and this shit is worrying me.

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Exciting_Radish_1008@reddit

Are you an inside cat? What part of Ohio?

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offhandaxe@reddit

Nope I got mushroom hunting fuck around in the Wayne go over to hocking and hike off trail all the time. I go over to the Metroparks and the woods behind my friends farms. I go shooting in tall grass field as well. Miami valley area. I know other people who have gotten them but Ive never seen one.

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AntiSonOfBitchamajig@reddit

Have they made it into the farmlands past the wooded East?

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Exciting_Radish_1008@reddit

I don't know specifics, I'm just sharing my personal experience. But I'm not in the wooded East, I'm in the farmlands. But it's my understanding that they are coming up from the South not the East. I'll have to ask friends in different parts of the state to see what they are experiencing.

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AntiSonOfBitchamajig@reddit

Hmm, I heard they're at the woodlands just East / SE of Columbus

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PresenceInfinite1793@reddit

Great i live in pataskala 🙃

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whaley_whalester@reddit

As an outdoorsy transplant from VA living in Columbus please god no

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biobennett@reddit

They're in Wisconsin, rare but also not just in one area https://wisconsin-ticks.russell.wisc.edu/wisconsin-ticks/amblyomma-americanum-lone-star-tick/

We have a pretty robust tick tracking program in the state https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tick/wisconsin.htm Including an identification by image (email) program https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/6834973/Tick-Identification

Not sure how the program is doing this year after all the funding cuts though

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Exciting_Radish_1008@reddit

They are in the area West of Chillicothe as well. And like I said earlier, it's my understanding that they came from Mexico originally so coming from the South/SouthWest.

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I-IV-I64-V-I@reddit

global warming means the ticks are moving north! (winters are less cold and promote breeding!)

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Livid-Childhood-88@reddit

I live in Ohio, Ross co specifically. I’ve had alpha game going on 2 years. I’ve seen lone star ticks here for years.

I know neighbors that have had alpha gal for 10+ years and got the tick bite right here. I totally blame the “paper mill” for having transported all the different species here.

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KlarerMond@reddit

I have lived my entire life in the Great Lakes region, and I distinctly and fondly remember laying in the grass, running through fields, and playing hide and seek in the woods, and we *never* worried about ticks at *at all*

Ten years ago, give or take, it was as if someone had flipped a switch, and the ticks—multiple varieties—were everywhere

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Turbulent_Table3917@reddit

Same deal in Maine. The winters were cold enough so the ones that were around couldn’t survive to breed again.

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ComicCon@reddit

How old are you? Because I grew up in Massachusetts in the late 90s/early 2000s and ticks were absolutely something I was warned about as a kid. I always thought Maine had more ticks than we did(although I don’t remember why I thought that).

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hermitsociety@reddit

I grew up on Illinois prairies in the 80s and we definitely were mindful of ticks and would do things like tuck pant legs into socks. But it’s a lot worse now for sure.

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Piccione_Sol@reddit

Theyre a CIA weapon after all

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DeadlyYellow@reddit

I suspect I am naturally repellent to ticks. I do volunteer work with a local nature preservation and after sessions am the only one not picking them off.

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Critical_Gazelle_229@reddit

Agree, never had a tick on me as a kid and I was always in the woods. Quite the opposite now

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BBQSauce61@reddit

We'd find a few ticks (not lone star) growing up camping in the UP of Michigan here and there, and always knew they were there, but even with a dog, never really had it too bad. Since most leaving the state in 2011 for work; my parents continue to find them more and more frequently, living in the lower third of the mitten.

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HildegardofBingo@reddit

I grew up there and even lived in the woods as a kid and I never remember any ticks (I don't think I even knew what ticks were as a kid). I moved to the South in the late 90s and saw my first ticks down here.

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Pregogets58466@reddit

Yes

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Piney1741@reddit

I grew up in South Jersey near Philly and had never seen a lone star tick in my life. Tons of deer ticks. I loved about 40 minutes southeast 12 years ago into the middle of the Pinelands national reserve and they are everywhere. I’d say 90% if the population are lone star ticks and they weren’t even in the state 30 years ago. Oddly enough they don’t seem as bad this year but it’s been cool and dry. I have 15 acres and other than the couple acres around my house where my chickens and Guinea fowl free range I have tons of them and always have since I’ve lived here. I couldn’t even imagine it being worse.

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weird_al_yankee@reddit

One other factor is lack of DDT. Not that we should bring it back, but mass spraying in the 50's and 60's really hit the tick population hard. I don't think we've got any pesticide that works well at killing ticks without also hurting honey bees or the entire food chain like DDT did.

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SiWeyNoWay@reddit

Bill Gates is the human form of DDT lol

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jujutsu-die-sen@reddit (OP)

One other factor is lack of DDT. Not that we should bring it back...

I mean, given the alternative maybe we should. Limited strategic use might be helpful here

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707-5150@reddit

The lack of snow and cold this winter also correlates to the areas experiencing higher level of ticks. 🥲

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Any_Needleworker_273@reddit

I can't imagine how bad it will be in those areas. We had a pretty cold winter with decent snowpack here in the NE, but the ticks are still bad this spring.

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TacoCakes2345@reddit

From what I have read snow actually insulates the ground for them (think: igloo) so what we really need is brutal cold and not snow to make a dent.

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screech_owl_kachina@reddit

Tick numbers are up in Maryland and we wee damn near under a little glacier for a month

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infernobassist@reddit

Also lack of fires gives the ticks more leaf litter and habitat to survive the winter

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707-5150@reddit

Ok well great news for next tick season then 🥲🥲🥲 bad news for this summer though….

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seamonstered@reddit

Just did an early April camping trip through parts of Colorado. Camped above 9000 ft and it was still freezing at night but I still found two large ticks on my dog.

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copiumjunky@reddit

Our last winter in Northern Michigan was brutal. Absolutely one of the worst ones I have seen in 30 years. Deep extended polar vortex, multiple ice storms, etc. this year. Ticks are off to a worse start than they ever have been. People were finding them on their animals during the storms. There is no stopping them as far as nature goes.

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hollisterrox@reddit

Super mild winter = super tick population.

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MidnightMillennium@reddit

I read some studies showing that the population of ticks is rising which leads to the number of disease carrying ticks to also rise and it's because of climate change. Ticks thrive in warmer weather. More and more people are getting alpha gel syndrome and Lyme disease.

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ctilvolover23@reddit

It was extremely cold like a normal winter here in Ohio, and those things are the worst that I've ever seen in my whole 31 years of life.

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gruntled_pilot@reddit

Hell, the old “maps” of where ticks might carry Lyme, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and more are now obsolete. As a recently trained medical provider they made sure to emphasize that even if you’re in an area that isn’t “classified” as Lyme area you should still test for it.

And it’s not just tick borne. Any animal vector borne disease is getting screwed up by climate change. We’re seeing more West Nile and Malaria cases becoming more common in Florida.

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petsruletheworld2021@reddit

The milder winters allowed the turkeys to move north and it’s suspected that that they brought the ticks with them in volume faster than the ticks would have made it otherwise.

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NotWifeMaterial@reddit

I read a book recently, and I didn’t know ticks were spread along the bird migration routes

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Informal_Snow9191@reddit

Also just a lack of predators. Both for the animals that carry ticks and the ticks themselves.

I have a small back yard that's ripe for chickens, but my city doesn't allow for them. And even though there is a park near me, the raccoons that live there don't really come unless my fruit is growing. So there are rabbits and mice and a mole in my back yard that bring in ticks.

I just want a quieter breed of chicken for my back yard. That's all. Just a few birds. But my city fucking sucks.

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petsruletheworld2021@reddit

I grew up on the east coast of Canada. I cannot remember ever really seeing any ticks or getting bites and I was in the woods a lot. That was 40 years ago… it’s been bad there for 20 years now and gets worse every year and they have some fairly hard winters. Wild turkeys all over the place now too… probably followed the ticks!

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Patient_End_8432@reddit

I live up in the northern US, and even in the fall I saw tick research vehicles in the woods around us, doing a whole lot more work than usual

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Organic-Specific-500@reddit

Can DIY some Tick tubes:

The Thermacell Tick Control Tubes are an effective, easy way to control the deer tick population. It is a no-spray formula that contains permethrin, which affects the insect's nervous system upon contact or ingestion. It also protects your pets and family members from Lyme disease and the Powassan virus. Each tube is quick to set up and only needs to be applied twice a year. Mice take the permethrin-treated cotton back to their nest, and the ticks that feed on these mice then die. This product is environmentally friendly and complements spray programs. Best used outdoors in areas where mice are likely to nest, such as rock walls, woodpiles, and flower beds. The tubes are best used in the mid-Atlantic, New England, and Northern Woods areas, where Lyme disease rates and the deer tick population are highest. 6 tubes will treat up to ¼ acre. For best results, apply in late April and late July, before ticks start feeding.

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GrapheneRoller@reddit

Do the permethrin’d mice make predators like owls sick though? Or is it a low enough dose that it’s alright?

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hermitsociety@reddit

Was coming to say this. Mice are the first stop for ticks, then deer, so look to those populations first. Tick tubes are pretty effective for controlling how much disease spreads. And controlling or excluding deer populations helps keep the tick numbers down in general.

You can also put a three-foot strip of something dry like gravel, wood chips, or dry mulch between woodsy places and your high traffic areas. Ticks don’t like that and will find it difficult to cross. Clear up leaf litter in your high traffic places.

In the woods, though, leaf litter also attracts beetles and wolf spiders and they eat ticks. So don’t be too zealous clearing out local insects. Fire ants eat ticks, too.

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massacre898@reddit

Would ducks or chickens be useful to help with individual properties?

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Turbulent_Table3917@reddit

Guinea fowl are the way.

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hermitsociety@reddit

Yep. Guinea fowl.

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jujutsu-die-sen@reddit (OP)

Chickens definitely help, but there is only so much they can do. Not sure about ducks.

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hebrew-hammers@reddit

I was in Bowling Green last November for a weekend wedding. We took our two dogs with us bc we didn’t have a sitter lined up. No hikes just walking the dogs in the morning and evening on this 1-2 acre lot next to a farm and we were absolutely shocked by how many ticks each of them had. Probably between 30-50 each in a matter of minutes. We were horrified. All lone star. I had two on my freaking nutsack through a suit! So far so good health wise but fuck me that was not a fun experience

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cssndr73@reddit

Sorry to hear about your nutsack

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hebrew-hammers@reddit

LOL they’re still hanging out but thanks

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Demonkey44@reddit

I live in New Jersey. We did have winter this year. The ticks don’t care.

In New Jersey the lone star tick is found mostly in the southern part of the state (Fig. 1) in xeric forested pine/scrub habitats and along the Atlantic coast. In many areas where it occurs, it is the most abundant tick species, outnumbering blacklegged ticks by a factor of 3:1 or more. Importantly, it is now detected north of Monmouth, the central-coastal county that used to be the upper boundary of its range.

Chemical control of lone star ticks is best done in the spring when adults first become active, usually around mid-May in New Jersey. Many of the most effective acaricides require a pesticide license to apply, which requires hiring a pest control service. For information on how to hire a Pest Control professional please refer to Rutgers NJAES fact sheet FS018.

Source: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1281/

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ravenwriting@reddit

Ironically encountered a few of them in Rutgers Gardens a few years ago...

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Feisty-Appearance92@reddit

There are reports of dead Moose, snakes and possibly other animals. It's wild. They're being found covered in them.

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Physical-Abroad-5047@reddit

I beleive that instead of cloud seeding they tick seed and drop ticks outnof planes

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Potential-Mammoth-47@reddit

Yes! They deliberately throw boxes containing thousands of ticks into the forests, some bioterrorism shit!! Crazy times ahead!!!

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Brilliant-Trust7577@reddit

I live in Oklahoma and people started talking about lots of ticks in the local fb page back in February.

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fairoaks2@reddit

We had a cold winter, at least my heating bill said so. Thought the weather would take care of them

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fruit_leather_chair@reddit

I've never had a tick in my life. Came home with 2 on me & 2 on my toddler a week ago after being outside. They were lone star ticks, for 3/4 it was their first feed.

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CaffeinPhreaker@reddit

Farmer here in southern Missouri. Yes, these ticks are freaking everywhere this year and last year

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Beautiful_Concern193@reddit

In nyc and took my dog for a walk in one of the smaller parks here last week and for the first time in three years - found a huge tick on her from just a short walk (not even going on the grass)

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KeekSmeeze@reddit

Can confirm in KY that I have seen ten times more than I usually do. Usually only one lone star per year, the rest are dog and deer ticks. I have seen ten plus lone stars already. They were either on my dogs or on my family.

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Nook_n_Cranny1@reddit

Yes, can confirm. Found one crawling on my should in early April after a short walk in a local park.

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LuxTheSarcastic@reddit

Make sure to get rid of any and all Japanese Barberry on your property. As an individual we can't stop the range expansion singlehandedly but those plants are a tick's dream and will make the population near them absolutely explode.

Plus they're invasive anyways.

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Mento-yStableGenius@reddit

Can’t tell you about farmers but CAN tell you from personal experience as of aweek ago that they were *everywhere* we went to do some dispersed campsite surveying last weekend - in not quite but close to NOVA (North Virginia) area. Spouse walked out with an attachment at the wrist, me with one at the ankle and a nymph found a bit later.

Should be noted we were not dressed appropriately (the bushwhacking happened after some discussion and we definitely did not think it was going to become as thick as it did). No longer going anywhere without long sleeves, pants tucked in, hair pulled back under a hat and an assload of repellent. And a good partner to do a thorough ‘tick check’ 😂

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bluelily216@reddit

I lucked out with either a full tick, or a lazy one. I went to an event at a nature sanctuary this weekend and afterwards stopped at the store to pick up my new glasses. When I got home, I decided to see what they looked like and lo and behold! A tick was crawling across my cheek. It wasn't full, thankfully. But the craziest part is I couldn't feel it move. If I hadn't seen it, I would have had no idea it was there.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

Ticks are like that. You can't feel them, which is why you need to visually check for them.

It's an adaptation for their survival: If you could feel them, you'd remove them before they start feeding. Same with animals, they'd rub on something or scratch them off.

But something like 100+ million years of evolution has given them the ability to walk so softly you won't notice them until it's too late.

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