Ticks!

[houli77]

Just read up on rickettsial infection.

Sounds on the money, and the fact that my symptoms seem to diminish with each bite it seems I am possibly developing immunity. It's like a cold with no sore throat.. Very mild lymph node swelling, and lethargy, but no real fever to speak of.

I've been bitten so many times now and very well could have had a feverish initial infection some time ago which I never linked to being bitten.

I'm totally healthy right now so pretty sure no lyme or anything more sinister.

I'm one of those lucky people who are magnets to all things blood sucking, I can get eaten by mosquitoes while everyone around me doesn't get a single bite, same with fleas. I've already tested positive to antibodies for Ross river and some other forest fever, results of which popped up from a blood test few years ago, so maybe now I'm rickettsial immune too.

I've travelled heaps in Asia and touch wood never gotten malaria....

 

[houli77]

How engorged/long was the tick on your dog?

Scary when u find a bigger one that's been on for a while. I even stayed home from work once to keep an eye on my dog after I found a well engorged adult paralysis tick, didn't bother him one bit though.

.

 

[Asterope]

it was about half the size of my little fingernail - must not have been on too long as my dog gets 'weird' (avoids his people, goes and hides in the furthest part of garden/under the house) if he has had a tick on him for any decent length of time. Lucky for me, hes a whippet and ticks/critters are ridiculously easy to find. dabbed some bushmans on it and pulled it out after 2 minutes.

Might be time to start slathering on the repellant when going on rides :\

 

[foxpuppet]

The northern beaches in Sydney is a tick infested hellhole, well maybe that's a tad dramatic but they are everywhere! The peninsula especially up around whale beach, Avalon and palmy is pretty bad. I reckon it's due to the high density of housing with bush everywhere and no back burning really possible. I walked onto a site one day just to inspect a roof we were doing and had to wander around a corner through some waist high grass. Got into the car a few minutes later and drive off only to start scratching. Got home knowing I had a tick and got the missus to have a look.... 64 ticks later I was in agony. They were only in the nymph stage but bugger me if it didn't knock me around for a few weeks. Probably mainly due to the itching causing lack of sleep. Had to bathe in calamine lotion!

Now i carry repellant in my van all the time and spray before going on sites like that or even on rides etc, but a few months back I got one while tying the ladder on the roof. The back of my head just brushed some leaves from a tree over my driveway and one of the cheeky buggers got right on the base of my skull at the back of my neck. I was driving for about 20 minutes and started to feel really nauseous to the point I felt unsafe to drive. Pulled over and started rubbing the back of my head only to hit it and feel it inject me, drove straight to the medical centre about 5 minutes of the worst driving of my life. Get there to find the nurse bring all the doctors in, biggest they had seen (and that I have had). A few more came in to see the process of removal (training) then 20 minutes later gave the all clear but i scored a tetanus injection as a bonus as I was due.

Swimming in formaldehyde now

adult vs nymph (grass tick is actually baby paralysis tick)

For reference that little speck between the tick and the circle in the middle of the bottle is a nymph I had a few weeks ago.


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[houli77]

Sounds nasty down there! Never knew the toxin could act so quickly.

It was my understanding that the toxicity increases with time and even with a big one you'd have at least a day or two before really feeling the effects. Guess I was wrong. I've had a couple of the big ones burrow in but never felt anything from them. It's the little buggers that have been making me feel crook a few days after being bitten.

Another successful tick free dig today, been slathering on the repellant and checking thoroughly immediately after. Happy days

Think the area I'm working on has bandicoots, lots of little holes dug around the place, I remember these from my parents place where they had bandicoots and they used to dig in the lawn. Makes sense..

 

[hach_bee]

also - Bushmans is your friend

Touch wood, never had a tick in my life thanks to this stuff. Pulled tonnes off kids at out outdoor ed camp though. One poor girl had to get a female instructor to get one out as it was too close for comfort....

Whatever you do, DON'T slather the gel all over you, dots are seriously enough. Back of neck, ankles, shorts line and behind ears are definitely key. My co-instructor had a leather watchband eaten away by the stuff, and as said it's awful on plastic too. Worst of all, do NOT scratch your eye after applying it.... thought I was going to die :/

Unrelated... but been bitten by hornets 5 times wearing bushmans. Hey you can't win them all!

 

[Mr Crudley]

What is a good off the shelf tick repellant that you can get from your local pharmacy,
Is there a small tube or spray sized one that could fit in a backpack?

I've never had one of these but it might only be matter of time.

 

[foxpuppet]

What is a good off the shelf tick repellant that you can get from your local pharmacy,
Is there a small tube or spray sized one that could fit in a backpack?

I've never had one of these but it might only be matter of time.

I just use the off brand or rid

 

[Asterope]

What is a good off the shelf tick repellant that you can get from your local pharmacy,
Is there a small tube or spray sized one that could fit in a backpack?

I've never had one of these but it might only be matter of time.

Your pharmacy should have bushmans - comes in a 75g tube - should fit in your camelback.

 

[Asterope]

Unrelated... but been bitten by hornets 5 times wearing bushmans. Hey you can't win them all!

Ouch - hornets are nasty fkers - they probably hate bushmans but are so pissed off with the world and just naturally mean and stubborn that they would sting you anyway. Bastards.

Leeches don't seem to care that you have slathered it on your boots and ankles either - how the hell do they get under thick hiking socks anyway?... /off topic...

 

[hach_bee]

Hornets are the weirdest bite ever, hurt like a bitch for 30sec then immediately dulls to nearly nothing.... one in the middle of a harness demo in front of kids, I had to take a quick walk to swear my face off....

I've never had a leech with it though! ugh.

 

[Gripo]

In the last two days I had a tick that was a little larger than the size of a match head crawl on me while removing a downed tree on our local dirt road.....who would of thought in that location nowhere near long grass or shrubs.

Then after walking around my newly mowed yard I plonk myself down in front of the TV and little while latter I felt something crawling on my knee sort of like an ant but unusually different. Turn the light on and bugger me if it's a baby tick, the size if a grain of brown sugar....f'ers!!!!

Speaking of hornets, in central qld there were these big orange mofo's that built in dead logs and the like around this time of the year, they would actually chase you if you come within 50mtrs of the nest.

Talk about hurt and their sting would "melt" the skin around it.....and I carry their scars for life.