[pct-l] Ticks

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Fireweed,



I agree entirely with you on the need for tick vigilance.  Most of the
problems seem to be in California, and after several hikes through there
I’ve only seen a few.  In spite of (fairly) regular inspections the first
“wandering freckle” I found was a few miles short of Cajon Pass, and there
were only a very few after that.



I specifically avoid contacting vegetation along the trail – or at least as
well as I can – but another thing that seems to help me is that I hike in
shorts with bare legs so I can much more easily see them in contrast to my
skin.  If they crawl down to my shoes/socks/gaiters I can be easily seen at
routine sock-changing times.  They seem less likely to crawl up to my loose
shorts, but I inspect there as well as I can.  Once you find one burrowing
in the crack of your butt you pretty quickly find out who your friends are.



Unfortunately, not finding any makes me a bit lazy with inspections, but
once I find the first one I become convinced that every little twitch or
tickle is another.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 6:33 PM, Mary Kwart <mkwart at gci.net> wrote:

> In the 1990's I got Lyme disease from an embedded deer tick because I had a
> dog who got many ticks. I lived in the Central California foothills. I had
> removed the tick, but killed it by wrenching the head off of it when
> removing it. What the doctor told me to do in the future was to pull the
> tick out (trying to keep the head intact and so keep it alive) and put it on
> a cotton ball and keep it in a ziploc. In this way the tick can be sent to
> the lab for definitive testing for the presence of Lyme disease. I got the
> red "bullseye" type ring around the bite right after the bite and a month
> later had flu like symptoms--which are indicators of Lyme disease infected
> ticks. A subsequent doctor follow up and tests showed that I had Lyme
> disease. I had to take antibiotics for a month--which made me extremely
> sensitive to sunlight during that time, so extremely cramped my outdoor
> activities.
>
> As far as I know, the antibiotics got rid of the Lyme disease. It is no
> laughing matter. A guy on the National Forest I worked on got it and did not
> pay attention to the symptoms and eventually had to quit his job from Lyme
> disease complications (arthritis, etc.)
>
> Bottom line--don't let the ticks get embedded. Do a thorough body check for
> ticks after going through potentially infested areas.
>
> --Fireweed
>
> ---- Original Message -----
> >From   Eugene <atetuna at hotmail.com>
> Date    Fri, 5 Mar 2010 14:21:15 -0800
> To      <groundpounderbill22 at verizon.net>, <pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net>
> Subject         Re: [pct-l] TICKS
>
>
> Last week I saw ticks around the Lake Morena area and met a guy that lived
> there that had a few recent bites.
>
> > From: groundpounderbill22 at verizon.net
> > To: pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net
> > Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2010 14:41:13 -0800
> > Subject: [pct-l] TICKS
> >
> > "How's Your Trail?" Just wanted to let everyone know that the Ticks are
> out
> > in Force. I was hiking Monday up at Santa Rosa Plateau above Murrieta,
> got
> > one of them little Suckers in my stomach, yes Suckers LOL . I got it out
> but
> > now it is sore and red and not Fun. Everyone take care and see you at the
> KO
> > . Whenever they open the site to register??? LOL Remember "Be Prepared"
> > Ground Pounder Bill "Semper Fi"
> >
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