Deer Ticks & Lyme Disease

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.

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Originally Posted by firefighterjake

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.

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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:

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Originally Posted by Hiram357

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:

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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

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Originally Posted by caro

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.

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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.