A deer tick? WTF?

Okay, scenario: It's a nice day, so after work I'm squeezing in scouting some deer hunting areas. I saw a wild turkey! Big deal for me, I generally only see deer. And yes, a few minutes later I'm making notes on my hand-drawn map and I flush a four-point buck and a smaller doe feeding along with the buck.

So I get home through fucking rush hour wrecks on every intersection traffic, and relax watching Shepard Smith on Fox (he's awesome!)

I keep feeling something on my left arm. I slap at my arm, and a few minutes late I feel it again. I look my arm over and DAMN! It's a tiny fucking deer tick (not a larger wood tick) crawling on my arm!

Those fuckers can give you lyme disease! It's the middle of winter...what the hell am I in for come September (summer) when I'm sitting in the thick vegetation hunting? I can't put on tick repellent - deer smell that a mile away, let alone the 45 feet range I'll have with a bow.

I need to research this conundrum.

 

Move to North Dakota where it's too cold for them.

 

Not really. Obviously they die out/go dormant there in the winter, but come summer ticks are all over. It's like mosquitos in Alaska - some of the worst I ever encountered, about on par with northern Wisconsin.

Proper clothing makes sense - I was wearing a t-shirt yesterday, and walking in woods infested with deer.

 

I had one once and took antibiotics prophylactically. Everyone kept them in their medicine cabinet for just such an occasion. That was like 15 years ago though. The protocol might have changed since then. Move fast though.

 

Garamet got it right: you need to proactively take antibiotics to prevent yourself from getting Lyme disease. Anytime I get a tick, I call my doctor and he immediately calls in a prescription for me.

So, we would tell you to call your doctor, if that hadn't proved to be one of the most pointless exercises known to wordforge.

 

Actually I've been pretty good about doctor appointments lately - as long as I keep enough "personal/vacation" days in stock.

 

I'm remembering when you hit your head. :|

 

BTW, why do you always insert artifical line breaks? You know the computer does that for you, right?

 

I'm not. My memory is for shit. BTW what are "artificial line breaks?" Maybe it's how I have my settings or something.

 

Garamet is wrong. The best thing to do is, even though it's the middle of winter, you should still apply an insect repellent containing DEET. I'm more in favor of preventative measures rather than taking antibiotics prophylactically. IMHO we overuse antibiotics instead of letting the body's immune system do its job and that's why we're winding up with so many antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.

 

I've never taken antibiotics for tick bites. I've never even heard of this practice and I grew up in tickville ie forest area.

 

I never have either and there are plenty of ticks here in the Appalachian Mountains.

 

Are they deer ticks or wood ticks? Wood ticks are no problem. Deer ticks are the troublemakers.

 

Sorry, you didn't hit your head, you needed an MRI. REmember that?

I'm talking about when you hit the enter key to start a new line, instead of just letting it wrap around.

Like.
This.

 

I got that MRI......results were negative. Thus, the physical wiring is intact, it just doesn't work right.

I always wondered does someone with severe retardation (like Down Syndrome) have the same brain structure (as you would find if you did an autopsy) as a normal person? What I mean is people with Alzheimers have tangled pockets of dead neurons or whatever. What would a Down Syndrome brain look like?

Anyway, about line breaks. How can you tell if they are artificial or not? I don't see any lines on my end when I use artificial versus letting the sentence drop down naturally.

Why don't I see the screen the same as some other people? Settings or what?

 

Both.

 

Same here.

 

I'd recommend anti-biotics if the tick latched on, but any time I've found a tick on me or others in my family, it hasn't reached that stage. Frontline and Muad gave the best recommendations -- protective clothing and deet. If you are worried about the scent repelling deer, at a minimum, go with long pants, high socks and boots, and a long sleeved shirt. I know, that is going to suck in the Summer, but if there are a lot of deer ticks about, and chemical defenses aren't an option, leave as little to chance as possible.

 

I'd read this thread: http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?topic=123353.0

A few points from it:
1. Deer will always smell you if you're hunting into the wind, so don't think not wearing this stuff helps a lot!
2. They talk about a mixture you apply to clothes that kills the suckers, so warrior up!

 

White socks are best because you can see the tick on them.

Tall white socks, tube socks, work well because you can tuck your pants cuffs into them.

Not the hottest look out there for a guy but hey, safety first.

 

DDT was the most effective insect control substance that we had. However, because of IMPROPER use of DDT, it was banned worldwide. The theory was that if a teaspoon was good a gallon was great. WRONG! Malaria reports all over the world are being reported at staggering levels. And another reason could be that controlled burning of underbrush, which also contributes to wildfire outbreaks, is prohibited because of air pollution concerns. Got the same problem where I'm from. But the tree huggers (EPA) know best, huh?