Jessaka,

I am so very sorry to hear that you two have had Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever. I wish you both a speedy, full recovery.

Well, I try to be as organic as possible, as most of you know, but there are some pest problems for which organic gardening does not have a really effective solution. I hate to say it, but it is true. Might as well be honest, right?
So, with that in mind, I am going to tell you what works for us. Keep in mind though, that we are only trying to achieve tick control on 3 or 4 of our almost 14.4 acres, and also remember that control is the best you can hope for--you will never eliminate them 100%.

When we bought our land in 1997 it had the worst tick infestation I had ever seen. Big ticks. Little ones. Spotted ones. As fallow farm land that had not been farmed since about the 1970s, it had gotten pretty wild. On top of that, it was leased out for grazing, and the few cows that were on it had ticks. Yuck.

We spent a couple of years clearing the land and fencing it in preparation for building the house, which was built in late '98/early '99, and then we moved in during the spring of '99. It took several years of work to achieve some tick control. At this point we don't have much of a tick problem on the 3 to 4 acres near the house, although our cats and dogs still roam through the wilder wooded acreage and bring home ticks every now and then.

1.) Mow, mow, mow. Ticks like to 'hang around' on plants 1' to 2' above the ground so they can jump onto unsuspecting people and animals passing through the area. Keep all areas around the house well-mowed and weed-eated and it will reduce your problem a lot. In pastures, mow WIDE paths. I like to mow them at least 8' wide. When walking down those paths, stay in the middle. At least that way the ticks will have to work much harder to get on you.

2.) If you walk through the wooded areas of your property, you need to do the pathway thing there too, and it is so hard to cut wide paths and keep them cleared. Even then, ticks can jump down onto you from the trees.

3.) If you live in a rural or semi-rural area and poultry is permitted, get some. Our chickens are great at bug control, and our guineas are tick-eating and grasshopper-eating machines. However, be aware that the poultry has to free-range part of each day in order to find the pests and eat them, and the poultry also has to be locked up SECURELY at night in predator proof coops or pens or you will just be raising poultry for the racoons, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, etc. to eat.

4.) I don't know if this is true of ticks in general, but it was true at our house. Easter Red Cedar trees on our land seemed to be tick nurseries. You couldn't mow around them or even walk past them without ticks jumping onto you. We eliminated ALL the cedar trees on the 4 acres closest to the house. This took a lot of time and a lot of work (and years to do it!), but it was worth it. Our tick population greatly decreased.

5.) I know that you know you need to use DEET repellents to repel ticks when you are outside if there is a tick problem in your area. Be consistent. If you forget to spray yourself even once, those ticks will get you.

6.) Use chemicals. Yes. Use chemicals. Ticks carry diseases that are so dangerous that you just have to do this. I KNOW that you know that since you are already dealing with Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever.

I have linked an excellent website with a discussion of tick control using the safest available products. The person answering the questions is the great Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening magazine. I hope you find the information helpful and useful. If you want to look at anything in blue print, click on it. Clicking will lead you back to some of last year's articles from Mike.

Good luck.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Tick Control

Six years ago my husband got one tick bite while attending a Boy Scout camp in southern Oklahoma. They had sprayed the camp areas and he had sprayed himself. It bit him above his elbow but on the inside of his arm. At the first sign of a problem he went to the doctor and started antibiotics. It continued to spread. It soon covered a large area from his shoulder to his wrist. He worked for the Boy Scouts and we were in the process of a move. Janet Smith, a pharmacist, who then working at the Homeland Store in Ardmore knew what he needed to take. She discussed it with our doctor. Because of her knowledge, we were able to get it cleared up. So....just because you are on antibiotics, it may not be enough. It takes strong stuff to get over some of the infections that ticks carry. The Tulsa paper ran an article this week saying that this would be a bad year for ticks because of our heavy rainfall. We all need to be careful.

Great advice as usual, Dawn. It hadn't occurred to me to mow wide paths through my pastures, but I'm sure that would be a great help. Thanks! And I sure agree on the cedars being tick nurseries. I was such a young kid when I moved to the farm, I couldn't understand why farmers hated cedar trees. I loved them until I figured out how much water they sucked from the soil, and what a fire hazard they were. Not to mention the ticks they harbored. Now I hate them too. :)

Jessaka,
This has been one of the worst tick seasons I have ever experienced, both at my new place and at our farm. We're fighting ticks in both places. DH has sprayed here twice and I've put out tick granules at my old place. What has worked best in eliminating ticks over the years has been Eliminator insect granules in the orange bag. I generally spread them about twice as thick as what the bag says, so I can't say they are as effective used at regular strength. I spread them right before a heavy rain so the granules are washed into the soil well. Normally when I spread them in early spring, I won't have a tick problem for the rest of the season. I have used them in my dog enclosures where the ticks were at the thickest concentrations and they work great.

I'm so sorry to hear you're recovering from RMSTF. That is scary! I got a bite on my arm last week that I feared was a spider bite, but after researching spider bites, I realized it was caused from a tick bite, and had the "bulls eye" around it. What was strange was I hadn't been bitten by a tick at that spot, but about 2-3 inches away from it. It stressed me out enough to go see a doctor because I thought it was a Lymes disease bulls eye showing up. He ran a blood test on me but I haven't gotten the results yet. I'm not showing any symptoms like aching joints or headaches though. The doctor said there is a 3-16 day incubation period for Lymes, and that he has treated two people so far with RMSTF. Needless to say, I am on a mission to destroy all ticks. :) I hate to use chemicals, but when it comes to life and death diseases caused from ticks, you gotta do what you gotta do... I hope you get well soon!
Dawna

soonergrandmom,
Was it a rash that spread up your husband's arm, or what? Do you remember if the antibiotic your husband used was Doxycycline, or something stronger? That is what I treat my dogs with when they've been infected with Ehrlichiosis from tick bites. I have lost sooo many dogs from this disease in the past 20 years, and it scares me. To be honest, I have no confidence in the doctor that I saw this week, and I'm still very concerned about this bulls eye on my arm. A picture I saw on the Internet that looked like my arm was said to be caused from Lymes disease with Ehrlichiosis complications. Uggg. And since I know I have ehrlichia infected ticks on my property, I can't help but worry about it. I've been bitten by at least 25 ticks this year. I am definitely a tick magnet! I've had to start using Deep Woods Off to protect myself from ticks!

Wolflover, Sorry I don't remember what he took and he isn't home right now. Janet Smith still works in Ardmore at one of the supermarket pharmacies. Maybe someone in Ardmore who reads this can tell us which one. She is the best. Maybe you could just give her a call and tell her what you are taking.

It was not a rash. The skin looked like it does when you have hives. It was red and swollen and was in circles around the bite area. It continued to make circles and to spread in both directions, up and down his arm. The doctor believed that he had Lyme disease and started treating it immediately. I know he took at least two rounds of antibotics, maybe three. If you don't see a signicificant change within about three days of taking the medicine then I would be seeking another treatment. It may be slow to completely go away, but you should start to see changes in it. I am not a doctor, but that is my opinion.

Hi, Thanks for the information.

Wolflover, I hope you are on antibiotics already.

So dogs can get this disease too. Is Frontline Plus enough to prevent it on them? Maybe we need Frontline Plus.

WE have been clearing out our 1/2 acre, which is why we got the disease. My husband said, "Lets wait until it is clear before we spray." Little did we know of the disease here.

We are going to spray again this weekend when the news says it is not going to rain again, and we will spray into the lots to both sides of us. I wish they would clear them out as the weeds to both sides of us are really tall. Then they grow up to the fenceline.

I'll second the 'bad tick' year! I'm out in the boonies, and even with the dogs on Advantix AND Preventix, they're still getting them. The big dalmation is the worst. I have to dip him to keep him moderately tick-free - the ticks love to get between his toes, so dipping means standing him in the dip solution weekly, and using the solution on his entire body (especially inside his ears) about every two weeks. For some reason the ticks aren't as fond of the Aussie.

The guinea solution is a very effective one (and they are far wiser about getting up in tree-roosts at night). I guess a lot of people are finding them to be useful, because the prices on them are going through the roof. I think the roadrunners are helping, as well, but those have to adopt you. I have 8 breeding pairs in residence (best guestimate, anyway) and they have indeed helped! Even better, they keep the snakes and scorpions away!

Good Morning Everyone.

Jessaka,

I have heard that Frontline is the most effective tick repellent ffor dogs. Maybe Dawna can verify this??

Dawna,

I am sorry that you were bitten and I hope that prompt treatment will help you avoid having a terrible tick-related illness. Sooner Grandmom gave you great advice. I know that Merry Heart lives in Ardmore. Maybe she will see this post and she'll know if Janet Smith still works at one of the pharmacies in Ardmore.

Carol,

I love, love, love my guineas and honestly don't think we could win the tick battle without them. We only had one keat hatch out this year, and several people we know who raise guineas have also had poor hatches this year. I have not been able to find ANY guineas to purchase locally. I may have to break down and order some from a hatchery.

Reading all your posts reminds me of what a horrible, horrible experience we had with ticks our first couple of years here. I had almost forgotten how truly bad it was, but it's all coming back to me as you discuss it.

I have always sprayed my shoes and socks with Deep Woods Off in the summer to keep chiggers off of me, and now I have some chigger bites anyway! Since ticks and mosquitoes are so bad this year, I am spraying Deep Woods Off on myself every time I work outside, which is virtually every day. I think it is going to be a long summer.

Dawn

Dawn, how close to OKC are you? I've bought my guineas (so far, two adult hens and 4 keats) at Mary's Swap Meet on NE23rd St in Midwest City. The guys don't bring them every week, but the keats were there last weekend and I'm hoping to get over there this morning to pick up some more. But the adults start at $10/each and the keats (about 4 weeks old) are $3... presuming they haven't raised their prices since last week. Since I'm on a very limited budget (having lost my job in January), I can't just buy a bunch of them.

Hi Carol,

I am so far south I am practically in Texas. If you look at a map of Oklahoma and see the little finger of Love County that extends down into Texas' Cooke County near Gainesville, I am in that little finger of land, so I actually have Texas sitting west, south and east of me. Crazy, isn't it!

So, obviously we don't make it up north often, maybe once a year. Dallas and Fort Worth are geographically closer. If we lived closer to central Oklahoma I'd head straight for Mary's Swap Meet in Midwest City though. Thanks for the tip.

We have a friend who raises poultry and he said that if our guineas will lay some more eggs inside the coop, as opposed to off in the grass where we can't find and collect them, he will hatch them out in his small commercial facility, so I am hoping that will work out.

Dawn

Well... today was successful! I only picked up three more (3 for $10, not much more than day-old) but all are lilacs (he said blues, but I suspect they're that pretty silvery-blue-grey whatever you want to call them). My computer-room/diningroom now is my keat room! They're under a heat lamp and seem to be quite happy... and the dogs and kittens look at them in the most quizical way. Oh my lord, what's mom done now???

Wish you were closer! He had a bunch of them, but the guy with the somewhat older keats wasnt there... maybe next week! I'd really like some more of the pieds....

I am so jealous!

Oh, well, our little flock will grow, if slowly.

I have 3 grays, 1 pied and 2 of the pretty silvery-blue grey. In the past we have had white ones and buff ones, too, but the bobcats, coyotes and such have gotten them over the years. Our lone keat is about 3 weeks old, I guess, and is feathered out but it is too soon, of course, to know what color this one will end up being.

We started out with 24 of them in 1999, and are down to 7. Most years we lose 2 or 3 to predators, but we've already lost 2 this year to that darned bobcat who is still hanging around, and that makes me nervous.

We used to be able to find keats in Fort Worth, but the feed store/garden center that had them stopped carrying them a year ago. I think we could go to a flea market in the Fort Worth area and purchase adults, but they are pretty pricey there....usually $7.00 for one bird. I'd rather raise the keats here so they are more prone to stay home and not run off.

Enjoy your keats!

Wolfover,

Does the frontline protect your dogs enough that you won't lose anymore?

I went back to get another shot and some more doxyclycline. The doctor told me to not pull ticks out of a dog with my bare hands, which is what I had done besides being bit by one. He said to not pull them out at all because they will inject poison, so I should either use finger nail polish, gun oil (the best) or vasoline, and to wait until it backs out. Put a bandaide on it after this treatment. I am wondering now if it is wise to get them out of the dog? but maybe use gun oil on them instead? I keep frontline plus on her, but she was getting ticks some anyway, but since we sprayed last there are no ticks on her. we will spray again if this rain ever stops for more than a day.

Dawn, you know what a wildlife lover I am, but darned if I wouldn't try to pick off that blasted bobcat if I were you guys. Don't think I could stand the thing eating my babies!

I haven't used anything this year, and I've let my backyard go, so the mosquitoes are thick, and I suppose the ticks are as well. I rarely wear shorts, though, and so I check the most obvious places for bugs, etc.

Guess I'll break down and mow the backyard. The neighbor has a red cedar just hanging over my back fence, too! Just ask my crabapple! She'll tell you and show you the cedar rust spots, as well.

Guess I'll quit letting my cat go outdoors with me, too. But, my daughter works for a vet and we can get the Frontline and stuff for a lot cheaper than elsewhere. He is a lap cat, so I'm always checking him for ticks and stuff.

Skeeters don't really bother me for some reason. I might get a bite or two a month, and that's about it. I've always heard you can use a match, too. Light the match, blow it out, wait just a sec for it to cool a bit, and then touch the tip to the tick and it will loosen its grip. I've always heard you should never just pull them out cause you're gonna leave behind some mouthparts and poison!

Sure wish I could have a couple of guineas in the city. Drat!

Susan

Grinning.... hate to mention it, but I've found yet another use for WD40. A little spray on a tick does a FINE job!

I have not tried this, but someone sent me an email that was supposed to be from a school nurse. She said put liquid soap on a q-tip and put it on the tick. She said just to hold it there and the tick would let go and come off with the qtip.

Good ideas from all of you.

Susan,

We try so hard to peacefully co-exist with the wildlife, but every now and then they make it impossible.

That bobcat has been keeping a low profile since the day it enountered our son in the garden. Maybe it has moved on elsewhere. Unfortunately, the coyotes babies will soon be large enough to roam, and then it gets really crazy for a while around and after sunset!

We have friends and neighbors having HUGE problems with racoons killing and eating their cats and kittens, so I am feeling lucky that so far the coons have only eaten the corn. Of course, I put up all the cats inside at night. There are a LOT of racoons most years, and at least twice as many as usual this year. I think racoons are 'cute', but I HATE having them on the property. They are very destructive.

Our birds have apparently taken care of the mosquito problem as we have fewer and fewer of them every day. We're having more ticks around the area, but partly that is because it has been too wet to mow lately. My guineas are so happily tick hunting that they don't want to come inside their coop at night.

For ticks on a body, I have had luck coating them with any sort of oil....veggie oil, baby oil, orange oil, etc.

I found a tick on me yesterday, but I had been going through the tall grass with the dogs, so I wasn't surprised. I check carefully for them every night. I have only had them on me three times, which is pretty good considering I am outside most of the day, every day.

Dawn

Oklahomans are at risk for tick-borne illness but not Lyme disease.

The NIH (National Institutes of Health) says 'Although Lyme disease is frequently reported in Oklahoma, over-diagnosing of this disease due to false-positive test results is common; positive or equivocal screening tests should be confirmed by Western immunoblot. At present, it is unclear whether the disease seen here is Lyme disease or another Lyme-like disease. If true Lyme disease is present in the state, it is probably rare. Physicians should be aware of the most recent recommendations for diagnosis, therapy and prevention of tick-borne diseases.'

I just interviewed a VA infectious disease specialist in Iowa a few weeks ago for an article on Lyme disease. He said it is frequently misdiagnosed in many states.

Just my two cents.

:)

Here is a link that might be useful: State of Oklahoma Health Department

I thought that Lyme disease was most prevalent in the NE. No?

Susan

The CDC says Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Here is a link to that report (cases from 2003-2005), which includes some good statistical info.

I'm in NW Oklahoma (Enid) and we have had a ton of ticks this year, too. We finally resorted to Dursban - we had some old sacks of it - wasn't that the stuff they outlawed? ??? Anyway, that plus Frontline on all five of our cats has really helped! We have six acres, about three of which are very wooded with lots of deer.

The infectious disease physician I interviewed said, ""Ticks live in an environmental niche that has both white-footed mice and deer." I guess we don't have that species of mice here? Beats me!

My sister was bit by a tick last year in southern Oklahoma, and the doctors said hers was from the Lone Star tick. She recovered, albeit very slowly.

Here is a link that might be useful: CDC Report

Hello all,

I am not an expert on ticks, but I did just ask my kids pediatrician who IS an expert on ticks what the best way is to remove a tick is. She said to take tweezers (make sure you are getting the tick by the head) and pull straight up (perpendicular) to pull it out. I told her about all the different ways you all just mentioned above (soap, blown out match, vaseline, etc.) and she said to never ever do it this way because what the tick does is regurgitate inside of you before it pulls itself out - and the regurgitation is where all the diseases comes from.

Just thought I would put my two cents in as well - hope this helps.

Julie

Hi Yall,

Actually we do have white-footed mice in Oklahoma and some of the white-ankled ones as well. (I am NOT making that up!)

The white-footed mice are closely-related to deer mice and they are one of the primary carriers of hantavirus.

We had white-footed mice on our property in Love County when we first bought it in 1997, but our cats wiped out the population pretty quickly.....or at least I haven't seen a white-footed mouse in the fields or woods in years.

Dawn

EXACTLY what the infectious disease doc said, Julie! He also said a tick must be attached (BLECH!) for 24 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease and not to panic if you don't get the head out because the disease is in the tick's body - and the human body will naturally expel the head.

okwriter,

My children's pediatrician (the tick expert) did not tell me what you mentioned above, so I wasn't aware of this. She did tell me to get the tick's head out ASAP (especially the head) and then the human body will natually expel the "concrete" (term the experts use) that the ticks put inside your skin to anchor itself to you before it starts feasting on you. The human body sees this "concrete" as a foreign object and eventually (week to 2 weeks) rids all of it - and voila - all signs of tick are all gone.