This is the tick repellant spray we use.

Permethrin is not something you use to spray on just before you go outside. You have to spray it on the clothing and let it dry before you can wear them. And you have wash the clothing separate than your other clothing. I use Permethrin to make tic tubes. Amazon sells it cheaper. For a general spray to use just before you go outside you need something like Off with DEET in it. The DEET needs to be a certain percentage. I don't remember the percentage off hand.

"Deet" and "Deep Woods Off" are popular here.

I've had three bites in the in the last few days. The first tweezers I was using were worthless, but I found a different pair with more sharply angled jaws that worked better.

No bites so far but I 've four on me that I saw on my clothing.

Alisande

Permethrin -- thanks for the info on this. I have three lovely felines, I don't want them to get sick! Haven't seen ticks yet this year, but others in my area have.

I have a cat, but he cares less about the tick tubes. I also spray the tree trunks about chest height. They say ticks don't crawl up the trees, but our tick do. My cat doesn't climb trees either. I have an all out war on ticks. My hubby has chronic lymes and has ongoing muscle aches, fatigue and mild cognitive disorder from the dz. My son-in-law and nephew ended up in ICU over lymes.

Function, I have chronic Lyme too, and fully understand your feelings about ticks. But I'm concerned about your cat. I read recently about another insecticide, not dangerous to cats, that can be used in tick tubes. I could easily envision your cat developing an interest in checking out the tubes if he saw a mouse entering one--which is what they're supposed to do. And unless your cat is declawed (and I hope not), it's always possible another critter could chase it up a tree one of these days.

He is to old. All he does anymore is go out and sleep under the bush by his cat door anymore. His days of catching mice is over. He is declawed, but not by us. He was a dump off.

Dang ... and I've got a garden ... and a catheter!

No ticks, at least that I've been aware of, so far this year. We've had some in the past, but with global warming they say that they're becoming much more plentiful in this area.

I had one of those forked slider things that one slides under them and pulls, which seemed to work well in the past ... but haven't seen it in a while ... (it's not a great deal larger than a tick).

ole joyful ... who, being aged, don't smell good - or is that "well" ...

... or see/hear "good" "well", either, for that matter.

Joyfulguy, I've used one of those "forked slider things" (good way to describe them) too. It works well, as long as the tick isn't too embedded.

From The Centers For Disease Control:

If you find a tick attached to your skin, there's no need to panic. There are several tick removal devices on the market, but a plain set of fine-tipped tweezers will remove a tick quite effectively.

How to remove a tick

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
4. Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

Avoid folklore remedies such as "painting" the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach from the skin. Your goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible–not waiting for it to detach.

Follow-up

If you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick, see your doctor. Be sure to tell the doctor about your recent tick bite, when the bite occurred, and where you most likely acquired the tick.

I live in tick central. The first year here while planing fences and gardens etc, I had 130 ticks attached during the season. My favorite removal tool is THIS one called TickedOff. However a finger nail will often work well in a similar manner. They both remove ticks like "one of those "forked slider things" like alisande above said. Either one will usually remove an apparently unhurt tick who would be happy to run away. The TickedOff thing is a spoon with a notch. The notch is fairly fine and usually traps the tick's legs so it can't move. For some reason, the slider things seem thicker and more often fail to catch and remove the ticks. Yes, I have them all. The fingernail approach actually often works OK but the legs are often not caught. For some reason, the tick usually runs away over the nail. If prepared, one can crush the tick between the nail and a nail from the other hand. You can't crush ticks between soft surfaces.

We like to use a pair of firm, finely pointed splinter tweezers like those from Tweezerman. If you want to carry a pair with you, you can embed the tip into a piece or cork or synthetic cork. Or wrap tip with a double layer of blue painter's tape. The fine-point tweezers are good for when the tick is small (nymph) or embedded. You want to remove the tick soon, but there's no need to panic (tell that to me at 2 AM!) and, IMO, I think it's best to gently and evenly pull the tick out -- give it a chance to let go. I think that an unnecessary sharp yank migh risk leaving some of the mouthparts behind.

The bites always leave me itching madly. Benadryl cream (topical) helps quell the itching an swelling. Cort-aid cream will also help a bit (but is t as effective as the Benadryl.

Damn! I hate those nasty deer ticks. I'm hoping that our resident wild turkeys and opossums help reduce the populations. A neighbor had his yard fogged, but I would hate to resort to that as its toxic to bees (and maybe other nice critters).

Function -- what concentration of permethrin do you use on your home made tick tubes? Do you dilute the liquid concentrate,or just spray Sawyers?

Socks, I'm glad to started this thread. I met up with my first one crawling on me a couple of days ago. I'm still itching.

Alisande -- yep about the amonia. For dog walkers, maybe have pup visit other wee wee locales.

Joyful -- you are funny. Maybe just a dab of fabreeze every morning.

Deer ticks doing like light, prefer shade and damp areas. They dry out in hot dry summer heat. As for climbing height, I've spotted one "seeking" 3-4 ft up a raspberry cane. I've also spotted them on my garage door and foundation. The are able to detect carbon dioxide and will crawl in that direction. Some researches use dry ice (solid CO2) in a perforated polystyrene foam box to lure them for research purposes.

I am itching! Itching. I feel things crawling on me. Eeeeeee.

Article in WSJ -- "

Can Tick-Removal Tools Top Tweezers?

Specialized gadgets may not improve on existing methods"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-tick-removal-tools-top-tweezers-1437414033

Sorry petalique but viewing that interesting article is restricted.

Petalique, I dilute the concentrate.

I must have gotten past some wall by fluke. I usually get locked out. It showed a photo of a variety of tools to remove ticks. That was the most interesting thing about it. I tried dental floss once and it worked. Mint Reach!

Function -- what dilution amount?

I use Permethrin SFR 36.8% from amazon. I dilute to 0.5%. 1 tsp to 12.5 oz water or 1 tbsp to 1 gal.

I live in rural Maine although I spent many years in a tick hot spot NJ. I have a dog and several cats. I bought several jackets treated with permethrin for my dog last year. They were very effective in that he would get ticks without the jacket and none while wearing it. While I am very careful to keep fresh permethrin spray away from the cats supposedly the dry treated fabric is relatively safe.

Wal-Mart now sells Sawyers in brick mortar stores; fishing & hunting area -- 12 oz trigger spray for ~$5.

note: I have found that the spray gizmo on the Sawyers problematic. So, I'll opt for the 12 oz over the 24 oz bottles just to get an extra shot at a trigger gizmo that won't clog or fail after a short while. Usually, I can fiddle with spray pumps units, but some are made too poorly and don't lend themselves to rehab. And, of course, I don't want to bring the trigger spray gizmo into my kitchen sink. ;-)

Does the permethrin solution or concentrate have an expiration date? I cannot locate a date on any container. A friend has a lot of concentrate and Sawyers and I want to pay her for them (full), but I think one or two years old. Is it like gold, diamond or sardines, always good, lasts forever?

Function -- eek, I can rarely plan ahead, so spray my jeans, socks and shoes while they ate ON ME! Yes, I sometimes feel the "wet" from the spray on my skin. Pray for me folks. I hope I don't develope some weird illness. (Darn! Do I detest deer ticks!)