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Deer & Wood Ticks
 Wood Tick |
Deer Tick |
If your like us, your going to be spending a good amount of
time in the woods this year. Just in the last three years,
the tick population has been steadily growing in the north
country to the point of having at least one tick if not many
per outing.
The two types of
ticks that you will most likely encounter is the wood and deer tick. The
wood tick is the smallest of the two and sometimes hard to see. Most think
that Lyme disease isn't up this way yet... that's only partially true as
there has been cases over the years of people actually contracting the
disease here in the North Country.
For further
information on Lyme disease
click here
Prevention is
always the best avenue. We have tried (4) different kinds of tick repellent
this year with only one showing good results. Tried are:
-
Deep Woods off scented
-
Deep Woods
off
unscented - both are 15 to 30 % deet
-
Deep woods off 100% deet
-
Avon's Skin
So-Soft
bug guard 0% deet.
Which one worked the best?
Avon's Skin SO-Soft SPF 15.
This is not a
plug for Avon, but for what ever reason, it actually works. I had a tick
crawling up my arm the other evening and I placed it on my pant legs where I
had sprayed Avon's Skin So-Soft bug guard earlier. The tick started doing circles and then just died.
If you end up
with a tick burrowing its way under the skin....
HOW TO REMOVE A TICK
The goal of tick removal is to get rid of
the live insect in one piece. While you may be tempted to give the the tick
a quick yank and be done with it, leaving parts of the tick embedded in your
flesh will most likely cause an infection.
1. Check your whole body for any other
ticks first. Once completed start the process of removal
2. Sterilize a pair of tweezers or
fingernail clippers. This can be done with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab
or by running a lit match beneath them.
3. Grab the tick as close to your skin's
surface as possible and pull slowly. Do not jerk! You want the tick to help
you, by backing out as you're pulling. If the tick does not back out on its
own, stop pulling, and add a few drops of rubbing alcohol, cooking oil, or
petroleum jelly to the surface of the skin. The added moisture will begin to
drown the tick, causing him to back out.
4. Wait. Within five to ten minutes, the
tick should begin to loosen its hold.
5. Pull again. Using the tweezers again,
gently pull the tick from your skin.
6. Examine the tick. Make sure you both
remove the head and body of the tick.
7. Cleansing. Once the tick is out, wash
the skin area with antibacterial soap or swab affected area with an
antiseptic. Any itching, rash or irritation can be treated with
hydrocortisone or antiseptic creams.
Here are a
few other ideas:
- Place Vaseline
over top of the tick and wait 10 to 15 minutes. The tick will be
unable to breath and will try to back itself out.
- Down in the
southern tier, they have what is called a tick spoon to help in the removal.
- Using a needle
after getting the tip red hot...I have tried this with little success, it
just kills the tick on contact and still leaves it buried in the skin.
If you develop a
round ring around the bite site, you may want to have it looked at by your
family doctor.
Do you have a
remedy of how best to get the ticks out? Send them to us to be posted here.
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The New York Hunter
