141–150 of 182 posts
I've stopped hiking and camping largely because of this. Its just not worth it any more. This page has an uncommon photo of just how small the nymph deer ticks are. https://sectionhiker.com/backpacking-lyme-disease-prevention...
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Not legal in Canada. Then again there's few ticks in Canada's north, so Canadian hikers should just explore the northern part of their provinces.
Not legal to sell, but legal to possess. I go across the border and stock up at REI in Bellingham. No problems bringing it back across. Apparently this is quite common for lower mainland residents. When I brought 4 big bottles of the stuff up to the register, the first thing they asked was if I was Canadian.
I think I read somewhere that it's used by the Canadian Forces as well, but not made available to civilians.
I've stopped hiking and camping largely because of this. Its just not worth it any more. This page has an uncommon photo of just how small the nymph deer ticks are. https://sectionhiker.com/backpacking-lyme-disease-prevention...
Something is wrong here. How did humanity survive living most of their lives outdoors for so long in the presence of these ticks? Did lyme disease really not exist until 1975? I see there is some kind of "blame everything on lyme disease" movement going on as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease_controversy
Humanity is now one of the most successful species on the planet. Seven billion humans is an enormous biomass, and that our livestock make up most of the mammalian biomass on the planet. [1]
So that alone makes us a big juicy target for diseases and parasites which will prey upon us.
A communicable disease which targets, for example, bobcats, isn't going to spread very far or fast, given their low population and disjointed territory.
[1] http://www.kalaharilionresearch.org/2015/01/16/human-vs-live...
I've stopped hiking and camping largely because of this. Its just not worth it any more. This page has an uncommon photo of just how small the nymph deer ticks are. https://sectionhiker.com/backpacking-lyme-disease-prevention...
Something is wrong here. How did humanity survive living most of their lives outdoors for so long in the presence of these ticks? Did lyme disease really not exist until 1975? I see there is some kind of "blame everything on lyme disease" movement going on as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease_controversy
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Next time, just use your fingernail. Never fails. Much better than any tool.
Will you please stop spreading this misinformation? If you want to use backwoods folk medicine on yourself, you're free to do so. But stop recommending this bullshit to others. What you're doing here is no better than the tick-removal version of the anti-vaxxer's playbook. The American Medical Association says in multiple places to use tweezers in a very particular way to remove ticks: * https://jamanetwork.com/journ…
Just FYI - when I lived in Northern Virginia I discovered that in my area the main transmission method of Lyme disease was actually mice. So make sure if you find them in your house that you do something about it. Also be careful when you remove via tweezers. If you squeeze their body you're likely to cause them to regurgitate into you which almost guarantees an infection. I use a tick removal tool (actually used it…
Make sure to not kill any opossums that you see too. Many people see them as pests but they eat a whole lot of ticks and while they can get lyme disease, their immune systems are pretty good at fighting it so it's not that common. They also pretty much never get rabies, which is just cool.
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One can guess that the primary source of release of the chemical is not by rubbing yourself on things, but from washing your clothes. Thus, it would end up in the oceans.
When the alternative is Lyme Disease? I'm not giving it up. My cousin is severely affected by it right now, in her brain, affecting everything. It's awful.
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Make sure to not kill any opossums that you see too. Many people see them as pests but they eat a whole lot of ticks and while they can get lyme disease, their immune systems are pretty good at fighting it so it's not that common. They also pretty much never get rabies, which is just cool.
I had to relocate an opossum recently and it was disappointing for that reason. Unfortunately it took up residence near my house (20ft away under a shed) and for the meantime it's a risk to a tiny puppy we have. It would not bother me if he made his way back in six months though.
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Please also add that antibiotics are not risk free. A lot of the post-Lyme stuff people mention sounds a lot like what happens when you obliterate your microbiome, thrash your gut integrity, and your body mounts a big inflammatory response to the mess in your gut. C. Diff and SJS are two other potentially deadly consequences of just throwing powerful antibiotics around without knowing for sure that they're needed.
Is this actual medicine or blogger stuff? I don't mean to be dismissive but most people I've seen talk about "microbiome" "gut" etc. seem somewhat quacklike
As for the really obvious, though fairly rare, dangers such as C. Diff., other resistant pathogens, SJS, and things like drug induced liver injury, I don't think anyone working in the medical field would question the reality of those.
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I find most people are naive of the problem especially in the west coast states, unless they spend a lot of time outdoors either recreationally, or landscaping, gardening, ranching, farming, hunting, etc. You certainly want to check yourself after going out, but for dogs and animals the difference is just very outwardly obvious as you will see them crawling on their fur, on their beds, or you feel the lumps on their…
>"I find most people are naive of the problem especially in the west coast states, unless they spend a lot of time outdoors either recreationally, or landscaping, gardening, ranching, farming, hunting, etc." Right but those different groups of people would have also existed 15 years ago so this is not really relevant. I'm just asking if the group that does care about it is more vigilant and careful than before, and i…
The dramatic growth of deer and rodent population, as well as ticks, is well studied however.
Since you seem interested in this topic here are a few relevant links:
http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/fact_...
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs141p2_0...
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6835501/ns/us_news-environment/t/d...
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/06/5182194...