I thought I would post a quick note about the the cache titeled "Porcupines and Power Lines". Tink and I did this cache this afternoon and we pick up some nasty hitch hikers while on this cache. I am not talking about picking up people needing a ride either. I am talking about ticks. We have never seen so many ticks in our entire life. Tink pulled off and counted 24 ticks from the time we started the hike into the cache until we got back to the car. Then when we got home we were still finding them. If your going to do this cache you might want to spray yourself with deet real good. We did not spray ourselves at all. I know we will spray ourselves on every cache not until the cold weather starts to set back in.

It seems we've been picking ticks off of us this year no matter where we go. They seem worse than normal. We did the Fields of Old cache a few weeks ago and the kids were picking them off of themselve the whole way home. They easy each found a dozen on themselves.

We've also found this that they get in our car after we go caching. Several times my wife has gotten into the car the day after we've used it for geocache outing to find a tick crawling on a seat or the dashboard. I don;t remember ever having that happen before this year.

oo my....the car and tick thing happened to us also..I almost flipped driving down the road seeing that tick on my leg.

MsTeelee and myself found several on us through the day while caching west of Sebego after the event last weekend. That evening, I found two stuck to me ... ewwwwwwww!

[Shameless plug] If you really want to escape the ticks, come up to the Bangor area and do my caches - I have yet to get a tick on me in this area. [/Shameless Plug]

And I don't believe I've EVER seen a tick in my area. Lots of caches in the Route 201 corridor (Old Canada Road Scenic Byway):

http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/11510/

Funny this tick subject should come up.I was down visiting with my son who lives in Sanford and I had mentioned that I hadn't ever seen a tick. We had been out to do a few caches in his area that day. We had gone out to eat at a local establishment called Mulligans and we were sitting at the table waiting for our dinners to arrive when my son picked one off from his leg. He showed it to me,kind of ugly looking thing. These are just wood ticks though and I don't think they carry the dreaded Lyme disease. The one that carries the Lyme is the deer tick,much smaller and dark black. Anyway like I said I hadn't seen one up until that time. I went out caching a few days later and went up to Round Top Mnt cache just a couple of miles from my own cache on French's Mnt in the Rome, Belgrade area. When I got home I'll be darned if I didn't have a couple crawling on my legs also. So I guess they are working their way of north. Yukkkkk!!!!

I agree ticks are plentiful this year. I have roamed the mountains North of Mt. Washington for 40+ yrs, never saw a tick until this year. Locals say the same thing. I have noticed they seem to show up further North every year. Southern coastal Maine and sothern NH have abundant ticks right now. I don't think any repellant will keep them off, although it might deter them from biting and attaching. Best advice is just check for them every time you go out caching. They really love tall grass and old cuttings with a lot of low bushes.
YOP

Cachers Please be very careful and hunt yourself down and remove all ticks. USE REPELLANT
Wear longpants tucked into high socks and long sleeves when weather permits. Carefully look yourself and PETS over and take a shower as soon as possible. Those nasty buggers will crawl under your clothes and hide. It is better to be a bit warm then suffer from Lyme disease.
Yes, I amy be scaring some of you but my best friend has Lyme and she has become disabled and her whole life has changed. She is constantly taking meds, having blood tests, going to doctors, and just not feeling well.
If you do get a bite mark the site and get to the doctor for antibiotics.
The ticks have been found up here in the Northern parts of Maine also. so beware where ever you go.
and with all of that keep on caching and geosmiles to all.

see this link for info on LYME and TICKS


http://www.state.me.us/dhs/boh/ddc/lyme.htm

We too have had our tick experience while caching in the Brunswick/Lisbon area. Earlier this spring we encountered so many we couln't count them and picked many off us during the day. We cleaned out the car the following day after finding one working its way into my arm. I checked at the hospital and they told me the tick was too big to carry Lyme disease. It's the small nymph tick we have to worry about. If you are bitten by one, keep it to show the doctor.

It's a bad year for tick down here as well, though from the smattering of posts it sounds as though as it's much worse in Maine.

I found quite a few on me while doing "Signal Hill" in Lebanon N.H. a few weeks ago. They seem to be everywhere this year. If I find a tick defense the team will make them a new cache item.

Hey Brdad, I hate to tell you, but while doing Stacked on Stillwater I saw a tick at on of the stops. They're here, just not as plentiful. When I was in Mass over Memorial Day weekend we went on a cache and they were in the car for about a week after. EEEWWWWW!

I must be a tick magnet. I don't think there has been a time this summer when I haven't been out on a cache and NOT found a tick on me. Been using Cutters instead of Deep Woods Off. Might try the DWO again and see if I fare any better. Joe seem immune. Sour blood? <G>

Anne

I must be a tick magnet. I don't think there has been a time this summer when I haven't been out on a cache and NOT found a tick on me. Been using Cutters instead of Deep Woods Off. Might try the DWO again and see if I fare any better. Joe seem immune. Sour blood? <G>

Anne
Anne I want to cache with you from now on. If you are a tick magnet then maybe they will leave me alone if I cache with you.

Cache with you any time! I grew up in Virginia and North Carolina in a big family with a lot of hunters and fishermen. There were always a lot of bird dogs around especially at my grandaddys. Us grandkids used to make a game of pulling the big fat ticks off the dogs and popping them. YUCK!! Maybe my current tick magnet status is revenge of the ticks. So far they are just dog or wood ticks, not deer ticks.

Anne

:o ....I'm with my other half Anne...If your a tick magnet...please cache with us those little buggers think I'm home for them....YYUUKKKKKYYY!!!

Maybe there is something about the type of vegetation along power lines that is inviting tick habitat. One of the worst spots for ticks I have ever encountered was while searching for a traveling cache along some power lines in the seacoast area of New Hampshire. When I got back to my car there were ticks crawling all over me. Luckily, I got them all before they decided to bite.

I work outdoors (urban & rural) and I've never seen a tick in the Bangor region or north. I can believe they're working their way north though. Look at the other critters that are working their way northward...Turkeys, pheasant...

As far as the powerlines go, it might be because the bushes are kept low by the utility (spraying or mowing) and there is usually a lot of grass. Ticks will hang onto the grass, a foot or so off the ground, and grab a ride with whatever strolls past it's stakeout.

If I see one up this way though I'll start spraying with DEET to repel the critters.

I have had very few wood ticks find a home on me - three so far. One was last fall in the Alfred/Sanford area. One was last summer in Hampden, and the most recent was this week in Caribou. Maybe I brought it with me? LOL

On a more serious note - though I have seen only a few wood ticks on me, I may have recently encountered a deer tick. I developed a rather suspicious looking rash on my leg late last night that has changed in appearance to a bull's eye like presentation - eek!! You can be that it will land me in the doctor's office tomorrow. Hopefully it is nothing more than a bad reaction to some other type of bite, but it is not worth taking a chance not knowing. A small co-pay can go a long way!!

I have to continually remind myself that it is not the wood ticks that are the issue, but instead the deer ticks that we are very likely not going to see because they are so small. Wood ticks are a disgusting nuisance. The real problem is that where there are wood ticks, there are deer ticks too.

I suppose the alternative is urban caching - eek! :eek:

Chastise me if this is off topic (then move it where it belongs, please) but since we're on the subject of ticks I'm wondering what folks preferences are for insect repellent. I saw some repellent made in Corinna the other day called 'buzz-off'. The ingredients appear to be herbs and oils but the price was over $6 a bottle. As I type this and think about it that's not that bad. The bottle was about twice the size of Ben's 100 and if it is used like Ben's, the bottle would last a long time. I'm wondering if anyone has tried it. I've got to have something that works when I'm surveying because I can't run and hide in the truck...although I'd like to sometimes. I've been using Deep Woods Off lately but it sweats off pretty easily. Ben's or the other oils last longer but the DEET likes to make the plastic items I use sticky.

I have used Buzz-off for over 2 years now with great success. It is a soybean oil base so it does stay on. I also have tried another natural insect repellent which I am currently using that is water based so I reapply it more often. Both have been used with good results. I prefer the more natural ones to Deet but that is just my preference. And yes you have to be careful with Deet as I have heard people getting it on their GPS screens and they have been scratched by it.

I used Buzz off for a while and I like it alot and I still have the bottle, However, I like the deep woods off that you can spray. It gets to the tough spots. The Buzz off works very well, also.

Dave

Words of wisdom I received from my physician today.......

1. A prescription for antibiotics to treat what is very likely a Lyme's disease rash
2. A prescription for a topical ointment to help with the bull's eye rash itself
3. A recommendation to use any bug repellent that contains DEET to minimize tick exposure

I'm not a fan of harsh chemicals like DEET, but if the alternative is another rash like this one, I'll opt to use it. As for the blasted little tick? Who knows where it is - it can take two weeks or more before a person becomes symptomatic. That is one of the biggest challenges of the whole issue. If the rash is all I have to deal with, I'll be thankful! In the meantime, continuous checking for ticks and happy walks on the trails while hunting for caches!

Judy,
Good luck with the rash (hopefully not the Lyme rash) and keep us up to date. Do antibiotics at this early stage ward off problems if it is lyme?

Thanks Andy for your comment!

Following some additional reading tonight, I am even more convinced that the rash is related to Lyme Disease. Antibiotics are a typical course of action. Some recommend labwork as well to see if there are antibodies present, but it also looks like the results can be inaccurate - both early on and during later stages of the disease. It seems that if treated early on that the disease can be held at bay and/or eliminated completely. Perhaps jumping right into antibiotics is considered to be a bit extreme to some people, but it is an easy enough thing to do and makes the most sense to me given my situation. I'm not interested in waiting for lab results that may not even be accurate while this rash on my leg continues to grow in size and take on a life of it's own - LOL :eek:

In the meantime, it is DEET based bug repellant for me. I might stink when I am around, but I will have a greater chance of being rash-free :p

Happy caching!!

BeachComber, I am hoping and praying that all is well. I for one would absolutely be doing the antibiotics. The best defense is a good offense.Take care , God bless.

I hope things are better soon! Them stupid ticks!!!

Our field crews in the Pest Management Office (UMaine Cooperative Extension) informally field tested Buzz Off and quickly went back to DEET. While they liked the smell of Buzz Off it didn't seem to last very long and work all that well for them.

Bad as it smells, DEET is the best.

Being an ond "Army man", I know that the best way to avoid ticks is to wear high boots and "blouse" your pants over them (use a rubber band to hold the bant leg down".

Then use lots of DEET on the outside to make sure they don't crawl up! :D

DEET - Dont leave home without it!! Here is a page with a few products and the amount of deet in them. http://www.co.boulder.co.us/health/hpe/wnv/prevention/deetProducts.htm

Good news and bad news.

I've pulled a tick off me when working outside all day in Presque Isle, Maine - back in 1992. Each species of tick is specific to a particular species of host. The one I got back then was specific to groundhogs. They are also not opposed to alternate hosts like humans (as long as the host is warm-blooded). That tick was attached to me, not simply crawling around.

Marsh Island, where the University of Maine at Orono is located has a very high population of deer because there is no hunting on the entire Island (Mostly Old Town and part of Orono). Consequently there is a population of deer ticks in the area. I am aware through some of my physican friends that several cases of lyme disease have been diagnosed and treated from people enjoying the University Forest there.

(Sorry to be so graphic but I have alot backgroun in parasites. Try to look at these creatures as another organism that has a world that requires hitchhiking - sort of like a travelbug. Even more specific; remember the organism inside the tick probably make the tick feel poorly as the tick is infected. See there; a parasite with a parasite inside it.)

Geez BC, how do you get into these messes? A reminder for all of us to be more careful! Take care of yourself.

Sorry and hope you are well soon. Thanks for the warning I will think twice about the little vermin now. It's DEET for me and my navigator.

Thanks all for your kind words and support!

I have been feeling fine with the exception of the rash and that is well on it's way to going away. I won't spend much time worrying about it until/unless another symptom presents itself. At this point, I assume that antibiotics are doing the trick. Bruce's recommendation about the pants, boots, blousing, etc. is the best though I will fully admit, I have a hard time venturing out for a day of caching like that when it is hot out.

Another not on Lyme is that you can get it without ever getting the bullseye.