[pct-l] Ticks / ZIP OFF PANTS

[Don Billings]

Interesting suggestion. I've worn those for the last couple of years. 

Of course, that would only help if the little buggers boarded your leg below the zipper. I spray my
pack with permithrin so that when I put it back on there are no hitchhikers on my upper torso.



----- Original Message ----
From: Jim Keener ( J J )  <pct2010 at ridgetrailhiker.com>
To: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
Cc: "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>; Mary Kwart <mkwart at gci.net>
Sent: Sat, March 6, 2010 8:09:00 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Ticks

Greetings,

I find that wearing pants with those zip-off leg bottoms helps. The  
critters tend to get caught in the zipper flap.

Jim Keener ( J J )
http://postholer.com/jj

On Mar 6, 2010, at 8:01 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:

> 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 l 
> east as
> well as I can – but another thing that seems to help me is that I hi 
> ke 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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