Just pulled the first tick off of me of 2025. Felt a persistent itch behind my knee, and assumed it was a tick. And I was right. I’m a magnet for these d**n things. I’ve had probably 10 or so attached to me the last 4-5 years, as well as a dozen more I’ve found crawling on my clothing. Worst of it was when I woke up in the middle of the night “sore” in the junk, and wouldn’t ya know it. Tick attached to the tip. No lie. That was 2022 i believe. 
 

Whenever I’m doing work outside or in any kind of brush or long grass I always take those clothes off and immediately go into laundry. I use tick-specific bug spray. I visually check myself everyday. I don’t know what else to do, but I do know that when I was  kid playing outside every day, ticks were never even a thought. Never had one on me, never heard of anyone else having one on them. Didn’t even know what they were. These days it feels like they are everywhere.

 

Anybody have advice on how to combat these nasty suckers? Im about to start taking my dogs monthly Simparica lol!

Permethrin helps. It stinks but it works.

 

Not a whole lot you can do beyond prevention methods and checking yourself frequently after visiting tick habitat.

 

They tend to thrive in a warmer climate and the lack of real winters these days is not killing them off seasonally.

 

Mosquitoes are similar, but they hatch out of standing/stagnant water.

 

Stay on top of it because they both carry serious diseases that you don’t want.

@gim the lesser winters is the only common denominator I can think of. This last winter in upstate NY was brutal but short, and I was wondering how that would affect the tick prevalence. I hope I don’t already have my answer. 
 

We have a contract with a pest control service to do an annual spray in the backyard that’s meant to kill ticks, but they don’t do it until June. Don’t know what they spray or if it actually helps, nor do I have any idea where I picked this latest one up. Feels like an uphill fight against these things. 

1 hour ago, Jar11591 said:

and I was wondering how that would affect the tick prevalence

Duration of below freezing temps and the number of bitter cold days definitely plays a role in insect/arachnid survival each winter.

 

Its only going to get worse, I’m afraid.

 

I used to start upland bird hunting each fall in October but the supercharged temps these days further into hunting season has delayed my venture into the woods and fields with my dog until November. My dog gets covered in bugs/ticks and it’s just too warm. I wait until we get a few days of a good hard freeze. Used to be mid October; it’s usually about mid November now.

  My FIL, wife, and sister have all had Lyme, that they got from ticks in our cow pasture. A good friend of mine contracted Ehrlichiosis that almost killed him in 4 days. Everytime I enter the pasture, which is often, I immediately throw my clothes in the washer when I arrive home, I take a Chlorox bath to kill them. I may be immuned, but I'm not a gambler. One plus is I get the wife to do a tick check.

 

I'm good friends with our vet and I ask him about a monthly tick chew for a bearded 258 lb mixed breed farm dog. He just laughed at me. My understanding is sadly no Tick & Flea shampoo is safe for human use. I swear our ticks can jump.

We haven't found anything yet that makes you " tick proof". Best I've heard is keep the grass cut in your yard and check yourself at the end of the day. 

As someone who has been dealing with health issues related to tick borne diseases for the last 8 years... it's good that you're checking yourself regularly. If you can get them off quickly, the likelihood of infection reduces dramatically. 

 

Here's what I do to prevent further tick-related issues:

1. Permethrin. It's not a bug spray. It's a chemical you soak your clothes in and then let them dry. It works for a certain period of time once it dries, and it actually works well. I used to live in the woods and ticks were a major problem. Permethrin was the only thing that would keep them off. Soak the clothes in it, and then use traditional bug spray around ankles, waist, hands, and neck, for added protection. 

2. Avoid dense vegetation, leaves, and long grass. Ticks aren't very mobile and they rely on proximity to spread from vegetation to their intended victims. Most often you'll pick them up when brushing against plants, but I've also seen them drop from overhead branches. Yuck. Moral of the story: stay in shortly mown grass as much as possible. We own several acres of woods, but I don't let my kids go into it except in deep winter. Unfortunately, the risk is just too high. 

3. Check yourself every time you're near any plants that are over ankle high. Check everywhere, as the OP's post can attest to!

4. The only time ticks aren't active is under substantial snow cover. Cold weather won't protect you. If there's not a blanket of snow on the ground, the ticks are active. At least in NY. 

 

Stay safe out there folks. 

 

On 6/1/2025 at 9:53 AM, Jar11591 said:

Just pulled the first tick off of me of 2025. Felt a persistent itch behind my knee, and assumed it was a tick. And I was right. I’m a magnet for these d**n things. I’ve had probably 10 or so attached to me the last 4-5 years, as well as a dozen more I’ve found crawling on my clothing. Worst of it was when I woke up in the middle of the night “sore” in the junk, and wouldn’t ya know it. Tick attached to the tip. No lie. That was 2022 i believe. 
 

Whenever I’m doing work outside or in any kind of brush or long grass I always take those clothes off and immediately go into laundry. I use tick-specific bug spray. I visually check myself everyday. I don’t know what else to do, but I do know that when I was  kid playing outside every day, ticks were never even a thought. Never had one on me, never heard of anyone else having one on them. Didn’t even know what they were. These days it feels like they are everywhere.

 

Anybody have advice on how to combat these nasty suckers? Im about to start taking my dogs monthly Simparica lol!

just the tip?  sorry.. 

 

 

I've found probably 40 ticks so far this season. It's just a way of life when you live in the country.

@Bazoo attached to you? Or just crawling around?

On Mother's Day, the wife and I went to the cemetery in town to visit her folks.  The grass was only about 4" high, but after we got home I found a seed tick crawling up my sock and then it tried to go under it.  

I use a lot of Deep Woods Off and wear Muck boots.  The ones with the fabric up the sides.  I spray the fabric with the Off and let it soak in for a bit.

Found this tiny deer tick on me 5 days after a Dale Hollow tournament in late April. The CDC testing for Lyme is at best 50% accurate, so as a precautionary I went right onto 7 days of Doxycycline. 
 

I have 2 immediate family members that weren’t diagnosed with Lyme despite being tested  2-3 times back in 2020/2021. By then the disease went systemic and has literally ruined their lives since. 

I’ve had a couple of people tell me that having a flock of Guinea fowl will get rid of them on your property.  
 

Not an option if you live in the city.  

One of my sons-in-law’s father (geez - is that grammatically correct??) has the disease where he’s now allergic to red meat because of a tick bite. 
 

@FryDog62 you take that tick back with you. My grandbaby and above son-in-law/daughter love about 20 mins from dale hollow

3 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

@Bazoo attached to you? Or just crawling around?

Half of them were attached. We have seed ticks bad there. It's not uncommon to get a dozen at a time.

@Bazoo man I guess I’ll stop complaining about finding a couple dozen over half a decade! A dozen at a time is insane. 
 

 

Had hoped the unusually cold winter would cut them back some. We were so wrong.  They are worse than ever. Appreciate the info, @JackstrawIII.   

 

  Wife or I will find minimum of one on us daily. Far more if a busy yard/garden sort of day.  Been bad for a couple or 3 months  now.  Haven't had more than four attached in a day yet.   But finding a half dozen in a day isn't unusual.  I used permetherin on some jeans...and we use Deet bug spray, but those only seem to attract the ticks. 

    Frequent showers and checking selves and each other best I can suggest.   

    Once you get so many, you get better about sensing their presence...so I guess that's a good thing...lol. The down side, tho, you can feel them all the time when they aren't there.  

   ....wonder how my pup's Brevecta might work on people...jk....sorta... that stuff is amazing.   One bite and the tick dies.  Most of the ticks we find in him are already dead.

12 hours ago, Smirak said:

One of my sons-in-law’s father (geez - is that grammatically correct??) has the disease where he’s now allergic to red meat because of a tick bite. 
 

@FryDog62 you take that tick back with you. My grandbaby and above son-in-law/daughter love about 20 mins from dale hollow

Yep. That's a Lone Star tick. It has a white dot in the center of it's body. Our property is covered up with them. I have found at least a dozen on me this year and find probably 30-40 a year either attached or crawling. Scares me to death every time I find one attached. I love steak. 

On 6/3/2025 at 4:12 AM, Jar11591 said:

@Bazoo man I guess I’ll stop complaining about finding a couple dozen over half a decade! A dozen at a time is insane. 
 

 

I had a couple hundred seed tick bites on me last summer, couldn’t sleep for about 2 weeks or more. All from a short walk thru the woods to a creek 

I feel silly now!

12 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

I feel silly now!

Silly is better than itchy! I had heard of seed ticks my whole life but never encountered them. They itch like wild but according to most people I talked to (some in the medical industry), the chance of disease transmission with seed ticks is little to none 

 

as far as weather, ive always noticed and increase in insect activity after colder winters. Im guessing it is just their natural response to a stressor. We’ve had two exceptionally cold winters the last two years and plenty of bugs. It appears that moisture is the more limiting factor , all bugs require water and we have a never ending supply of that 

dumb question.  does a tick provide any natural benefit to the ecosystem?  are they a food source for something?

@Darth-Baiter don’t know. Parasites usually serve some niche. In ticks case, I’m guessing it’s to limit populations of mammals? I know birds and possums eat them. 
 

Found one crawling on my shirt today while doing yard work. Scalded my self in the shower. Still checking myself incessantly. 

Guinea fowl eat them, besides that they're a good transmitter of disease for the govt. 

On 6/3/2025 at 3:12 AM, Jar11591 said:

A dozen at a time is insane. 

 

That would keep me out of the woods or grass.  For a long time.

 

A life altering disease is not worth catching a fish for this guy.

 

As far as a purpose, there is none.  Just wait until the New World Screw Worm migrates north into the US cattle herd.  That thing is straight up out of a nightmare.