Cachers walking in the woods and fields should be aware of the elevated risk of getting deer ticks and Lyme disease between May and July. See following link for more information. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/

I went to the site, enlarged the picture of ticks, and was extremely impressed with how good the picture was when I printed it. I'm gonna put it in the geocaching bag, and suggest that others do as well. Could mean the difference between a trip to the doctor or not...

I can deal with spiders, poison ivy, snakes, skunks, lizards, and any other sort of critter, but ticks really upset me... :(

Ticks are the worst! I picked up one while caching on Bradbury. Tiny thing...embedded...didn't find him until 3 days after (!). I had no idea they could be out so early...but they can!! Dr. put me on antibiotics. Interesting note...the bull's eye they talk about as a sympton of lyme disease is huge! Luckily, no signs/symptoms. Take care on the trails everyone!

cachers please take ticks and lyme seroiusly My best friend has it and has been sick for 3 years. it took almost a year before she was diagnosed. she had to quit working and takes shots every day. it is like having the flu all the time.
Hikers take care to check for ticks and get to the docter for treatment.
geosmiles

wow, scary stuff. Gets me thinking about going caching at all, i went to a tick seminar a year or so ago, can be nasty stuff. there are only a couple true labs in the country that are the real deal lyme testing. i guess i will start wearing my tick repellant.

Don't let ticks stop you from caching Noreasta - you could get them in your yard and that won't stop you from going home! LOL

My friend got a tick and lyme disease when he went down to concert in Jersey. I didn't think they came this far north...

My friend got a tick and lyme disease when he went down to concert in Jersey. I didn't think they came this far north...

The information I've seen is that they haven't gone too far north of Augusta yet, so I sort of doubt if you'd see them in Caribou for quite a while. I haven't seen any in my area so far (Skowhegan area). :D

I don't know if the cold winter has killed them off, or if this is a slow season, or if I've just been lucky, but we really haven't seen many ticks this spring at all. And that's not a bad thing! I've also noticed a few houses with signs saying "Mainely Ticks" pest control out front. I guess they are taking aggressive measures against them. The only good tick is a dead tick, but I'm not a big fan of pesticides either. I hope they are out of range of my water supply!

There out we found one last weekend. But so far we that is all we have seen is that one. If we don't see anymore then it would not break my heart.

Thats good, one less thing to worry about then. I am still fighting off these basketball size June Bugs. One cheated though...I seen one in my garage 1am on the 29th of May. I yelled at it and said to come back in two days :D

Rick - where was it that you spotted the little creature?

I hope it wasn't in your yard :eek: Though I can't say the likes of a tic will keep me away from the caching event next weekend!

Nope it was not from my yard. We picked it up somewhere else. Don't worry Judy you should be safe in the yard here this weekend.

Well, at least as far as the ticks go, huh ? LOL
Now if I can keep my conversations free of politics and other controversial topics I should be all set - hehehehe

Caching Memorial weekend I found a few on the dogs. Also when we went to Stonington a week later. I had put the Frontline treatment on Jock and as he was laying on the floor I actually watched a tick jump off him. I guess the stuff really works. I have been lucky so far not to have gotten one on myself. :rolleyes:

I think the ticks are out full force this year as usual. Friday, in Falmouth, and yesterday, in Auburn I had to pick off several. When I got home from Auburn...found 2 to of them had managed to score lunch. EWWW! (I really, really HATE ticks!)

Like you, I seem to attract ticks. Joe gets the mosquitos, I get the ticks. Trying Cutters instead of Off and seeing fewer of the little creatures. Won't catch me in the woods in shorts since I'd be covered with them. Yuck. Living down south in my youth, we used to pop the ticks on the dogs. The ticks would get about thumb sized. Double yuck.

Anne

If you can see the little critter, it's probably a dog tick or wood tick and you are ok. It's the one you can't see that carrys Lyme's disease and it's no bigger then the head of a pin, at least before it gets lunch! The State Lab has a really nice laminated "Tick Card" with the three different ticks on it and information on how to protect yourself from them and how to safely remove them. They sent them to the lab where I work, but I don't know if there is a place for the general public to get them. The card would be nice to have in a pocket for reference. If you find one and want to know what it is, the State Public Health Lab has a form you can print off and send with the tick to Maine Medical Center for ID.

I don't know if the cold winter has killed them off, or if this is a slow season, or if I've just been lucky, but we really haven't seen many ticks this spring at all. And that's not a bad thing! I've also noticed a few houses with signs saying "Mainely Ticks" pest control out front. I guess they are taking aggressive measures against them. The only good tick is a dead tick, but I'm not a big fan of pesticides either. I hope they are out of range of my water supply! Don't take the CDC maps too seriously in terms of assuming there is no threat, since they don't list Kentucky at all and a GeoCacher in Kentucky got bit in the ear a couple of months ago, and ended up in the Emergency Room for a couple of weeks with a well-advanced case of Lyme. He was bitten in the ear canal, so the "target shaped bruise" didn't show, and he wasn't diagnosed until it was nearly too late. He was out of circulation for several weeks and is now back out caching, but he'll be feeling the effects for a very long time.

Be careful out there, but remember that ticks are everywhere, so don't let it completely stop you. As someone already mentioned, they are as likely to be in your yard as they are in the field. Just do tick checks, wear long pants and tuck your pantlegs and shirt in, wear Deet and consider using Permethrin on your clothing, and make sure you don't have any of the little critters on you. Lyme is not that bad as long as it gets caught early. Wait too long and it can be fatal.

If you can see the little critter, it's probably a dog tick or wood tick and you are ok. It's the one you can't see that carrys Lyme's disease and it's no bigger then the head of a pin, at least before it gets lunch! The State Lab has a really nice laminated "Tick Card" with the three different ticks on it and information on how to protect yourself from them and how to safely remove them. They sent them to the lab where I work, but I don't know if there is a place for the general public to get them. The card would be nice to have in a pocket for reference. If you find one and want to know what it is, the State Public Health Lab has a form you can print off and send with the tick to Maine Medical Center for ID.
Is this the chart you are referring to?

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_blackleggedTick.htm

No, it's not. And darned if I can find what I did with mine! Mine has more information on it, but I can't remember what...! I guess I wasn't to concerned.
If I come acrossed it I will email you a copy of it.

Is this the chart you are referring to?

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_blackleggedTick.htm

I'm from NJ now living in Maine. Have lived with ticks alot in NJ. You do not always get a bull's eye mark. Wear white shirts and light clothing, it's easier to spot the buggers, tuck pant legs into socks. After coming inside check your body and especially your hair. We have three in our family that have been treated for lymes and we are fine now. Treatment takes awhile. You should be more fearful of the big animals up here then ticks. I have not spotted a tick since moving to Maine 2 years ago. Reports of them in Portland area.

If you want to see a real live Maine tick, just get near me after a cache trek. I seem to attract them like a tick magnet. Only one bite so far this summer and it appeared to be a regular dog tick. I use 30% Deet and still get ticks. Sigh....

Anne

I have not spotted a tick since moving to Maine 2 years ago.
You should try caching in the Lewiston area! On a trip last fall, the dogs had several on them and us three adults had five or six amongst us and the next day when I was back in my car I found one on my windshield. I haven't back to that area since! Twin 2 of Hiker Twins

If you're out in the woods often as we are--this hint might come in handy.


try this out ...


A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share --

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great , because it works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc. Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on it's own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and in KY, that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.


hope it works
geosmiles from loonylady

Thats Great, Thats why I love this place:D

I've been caching lately in a white turtleneck, light colored pants and a light colored hat, all sprayed with DEET. I roast to death but I can spot the buggers before I get back into the car. I change shirts before I get back in the car, then put the turtleneck back on to hike into the woods. When I start to feel like it's too much trouble, I just look in the mirror at my neck where I still have divots from my little trip to the ER to get 4 removed. They didn't use the swab, they used a clamp and just pulled.

I've been caching lately in a white turtleneck, light colored pants and a light colored hat, all sprayed with DEET.

I've mentioned wearing LIGHT colored clothing when caching to a couple of people. Those deer ticks are so small, that you can easily miss one if you're wearing dark. But they show up oretty well with "faded" jeans or "khaki" colored slacks. :D :D

First - As Hiker Twins mentioned, If you can see the tick on you while still out in the field, you don't have a deer tick. Deer ticks, after feeding, only swell up to the size of pre-fed dog or wood tick nymphs. Even on light clothing, you'd only notice them if (for some strange reason) you decided to study the weave of the fabric with a magnifying glass and looked in the right place. Speck-of-dust sized. Tiny. All but too small to see.

Second - ALL of the "tricky" ways of getting ticks to release (including yours, LoonyLady - Sorry) carry a high risk of them regurgitating their meal first - Which increases your odds of getting Lyme disease drastically. Ripping them out violently; cigarette near their butts; suffocation with vaseline or the like; bad bad bad. You can carefully remove them with tweezers, but I suggest a tick-spoon (they cost under $5 at LLB). Of course, personally the little creeps totally freak me out :eek: and I usually just cut out an eraser-sized plug of (my) flesh around their heads with a razor blade. Ugh! Makes me shudder just thinking about them.

Third - It takes around 24 hours to "catch" Lyme from infected deer ticks. So at the end of the day, go home, shower, and have someone (ie, spouse) do a thorough tick check. If you find them after only a few hours, you have almost no risk of getting Lyme. Even at the end of a long day of hiking, you don't need to worry too much. If you don't notice it until the next morning's shower... Well... Then you should start worrying.

Fourth - Not everyone gets the bullseye rash, and even those who do usually don't have something you'd call a glaringly obvious bullseye... More like just a bruise with a differently colored center.

Fifth - Yes, deer ticks go past Augusta (I've gotten one in the Bangor area). I think that factoid refers to the lack of autochthonous cases of lyme from any further North than that.

Sixth - Fortunately, Lyme responds well to antibiotics if caught within a few months. Unfortunately, if you don't catch it within a few days, you probably won't notice anything until your doctor starts running every test on the books three years down the road to explain why your joints and assorted organs have all started failing (Really, NOT a pretty disease. Use DEET).

All I've found in the Augusta area have been dog ticks......and I've found maybe 12 this year, including the 3 I've taken off my dog. Only found one on skin, fortunately not latched on yet..... :rolleyes:

But the Lyme carriers are often too small to see. :(

Anyways, that Tick Spoon mentioned in the above entry WORKS. It's the best thing sinced sliced bread, seriously! The one I bought was called "Ticked off." It's in a green-colored package, and the spoon is white and about 1/2 teaspoon sized. Highly recommended.

Something that hasn't been emphasized is that here in Maine not all deer ticks are infected. They probably arrived with tourist dogs. More likely than deer immigration. If you discover a deer tick on your visits to CT the home of Lyme there is a very high chance that the tick is infected. there is an extremely low chance of beeing infected with a disease in Maine from a dog or woods tick. (spotted mountain rocky fever)

In order to put a hurt on the tick population you need an extended period of 20 degree or less cold without snow cover. Last winter wasn't very hard on them. And you can pick up ticks all year long that there isn't snow, so look carefully during winter thaws.

I learned more than I ever wanted to know about deer ticks and lyme disease last year when I found one stuck to my arm. It was about the size of the period at the end of this sentence and yet was fully engorged. I brought it to my doctor's office who sent it off to the State for analysis. They can't really tell you if the tick has lyme disease (too small to test?) but they can tell you if it is in the right type and stage to be a carrier. My letter said there was a 60% chance I had been infected. The antibiotics I had to take were horrendus on the stomach - I was miserable for the whole 2 weeks of treatment. I bet most people that get bit by these ticks never see them. I never got the bullseye rash. If you ever find a suspect tick on you, save it (don't kill it) and bring it to your doctor's office.

I went geocaching the other day down in Topsham/Freeport and all of these tick horror stories had me paranoid . . . everytime I felt a little itch my over-active mind half expected to find a tick attached to me the size of a cantalope! I'm pretty sure I'm tick free . . . but I'll let you know if I find anything in the next day or two.

I went geocaching the other day down in Topsham/Freeport and all of these tick horror stories had me paranoid . . . everytime I felt a little itch my over-active mind half expected to find a tick attached to me the size of a cantalope! I'm pretty sure I'm tick free . . . but I'll let you know if I find anything in the next day or two.

hehe, that's the worst feeling, bug-a-phobia!! i get it all the time when i think about ticks too! a few weeks ago me and a co-worker were at a cell tower down in gorham, and 5 minutes into the job we starting noticing ticks... so we started killin them, yankin em off, by the time we were done working we ended the lives of over a few dozen ticks... we loaded up the 4wheeler and started heading back to the truck, as were crossing through a bog he hits the gas, next thing i know were going about 60mph through a bog and i yell what gives!?!? his reply... I FEEL SOMETHIN CRAWLING UP MY LEG! without even shutting the wheeler off when we get to the truck he's already off of it takin his pants off and jumpin around... there were no ticks... HAHA it's amazing, not only do the ticks have the capability to physically impair you, but they can do it mentally too!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Ticka are gross!!! What purpose does a tick have in the circle of life? (Besides making us all paranoid):eek:

hehe, that's the worst feeling, bug-a-phobia!! i get it all the time when i think about ticks too! a few weeks ago me and a co-worker were at a cell tower down in gorham, and 5 minutes into the job we starting noticing ticks... so we started killin them, yankin em off, by the time we were done working we ended the lives of over a few dozen ticks... we loaded up the 4wheeler and started heading back to the truck, as were crossing through a bog he hits the gas, next thing i know were going about 60mph through a bog and i yell what gives!?!? his reply... I FEEL SOMETHIN CRAWLING UP MY LEG! without even shutting the wheeler off when we get to the truck he's already off of it takin his pants off and jumpin around... there were no ticks... HAHA it's amazing, not only do the ticks have the capability to physically impair you, but they can do it mentally too!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Hmmm . . . one grown man jumping around without his pants and another standing by with a quizzical look on his face . . . sounds like a certain cache site that I visited once! :rolleyes: ;) :D

Something that hasn't been emphasized is that here in Maine not all deer ticks are infected. They probably arrived with tourist dogs. More likely than deer immigration. If you discover a deer tick on your visits to CT the home of Lyme there is a very high chance that the tick is infected. there is an extremely low chance of beeing infected with a disease in Maine from a dog or woods tick. (spotted mountain rocky fever)

In order to put a hurt on the tick population you need an extended period of 20 degree or less cold without snow cover. Last winter wasn't very hard on them. And you can pick up ticks all year long that there isn't snow, so look carefully during winter thaws.

My wife's grandfather died from a tick bite. He lived in CT/RI and contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from the tick . . . guess I may have a real reason to feel paranoid.

I met a friend of mine at the vet college in PEI yesterday who had recently been to Halifax working with his dog. He told me that he had found a tick on his dog that tested positive for lyme disease. He wasn't sure how long it had been there so was getting the dog tested. He said his dog was acting differently so was quite concerned.