Skip to Content
Register · Login
About Theme

A Letterboxing Community

Atlas Quest
Search Edit Search

Read Thread: Boxes on the way to the Cape?

Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85783 by The Royal Fish
Apr 15, 2007 5:36pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I often put rubbing alcohol on the tick before pulling it out with tweezers (when it is bitten in). They say it makes it back out a bit and I've had success with this. Would you not recommend this as well and why or why not?


Doing this will actually make the tick release the toxin that contains Lyme - also, if you grasp the tick by the abdomen, it will also release the same toxin. Solution: Sharp, pointed tweezers for removing ticks. Remove clothing and wash. Then perform a full body check ASAP after hiking. A tick needs to be attached longer than 24 hours before it can spread Lyme. I always spray my shoes and the bottom of my pants with DEET (it has to say on the directions that it repels ticks, otherwise it is useless).

If you have been bitten by a deer tick, observe the area of the bite. If you notice a "bullseye" at the site you have contracted Lyme Disease. It is possible to still contract Lyme without the noticible "bullseye". If you still have the tick, place it in a plastic bag and ask your healthcare provider to analyze it.

My preventatives are: Spray shoes and pants with DEET. If hiking in tall grass, tuck pants in socks (I know... its not fashionable). Wear light colored clothing as it is easier to spot ticks on it. Keep a sticky-tape lint roller in your car and roll your pants and clothing after your hike. Stay on the trails, if you walk off trails, check yourself once you are back on a main pathway.

Above all, have fun. Worrying about ticks can really put a damper on letterboxing! I work outdoors in the woods. I usually am bitten by deer ticks every spring. It is laziness on my part, when I notice the nasty deer tick hangin' on me. (I have neglected to spray myself with DEET) So far, I haven't contracted Lyme.

I know this wasn't what you were looking for, but anytime it is over freezing, ticks are on the move. I hope you can manage to enjoy yourself in Massachusetts with all this rain we are having!

T. of
TheThreeCs
*The Avoider of Ticks*
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85784 by ArchimedesScrew
Apr 15, 2007 5:45pm
Thread (disabled) Board
Untreated (often because the tick bites aren't noticed) Lyme Disease can be really serious. We have nurses come to our classrooms each year to educate the students about how to play outside more safely. They tell them to wear light color long pants and tuck the pants into their socks when going for walks in the woods and then check throroughly by running their hands over the arms and legs and having someone check with them when they are finished when their outing. Spraying with DEET works quite well but it is a powerful chemical so we try to concentrate it on our shoes, socks, and pants. At school the kids sometimes come in with a tick or two from recess. If they haven't bitten in which is usually the case, I remove them with sticky tape. We carry tape with us in our letterboxing bag to remove them from our clothes without handling them.
A lot of people who live on the Cape don't protect themselves but I know countless people who have joint stiffness and other complications that have eventually been diagnosed as untreated Lyme. It's worth the effort to wear the right clothing and double check for any little travelers at the end of each adventure.

-Cape Cod Lightning Bug
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85792 by Cape Cod Lightning Bug
Apr 15, 2007 6:27pm
Thread (disabled) Board
CCLB, AS, and 3Cs,

Thank you so much for this advice. I will keep it in mind. The tape is a great idea too. I will add it to my "kit"!

TRF
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85780 by ArchimedesScrew
Apr 16, 2007 4:05am
Thread (disabled) Board
Arch: I'm interested with why you're not allowed to put something on a tick?

Bluebird's daughter works at a daycare and told me about this:

She puts rubbing alcohol on a tick and rubbed counter clockwise with the cotton ball, and they've released without too much effort. Of course, if you have that really cool anti-bacterial stuff that of course us teachers have in gallon buckets on our desks at school ;-), that works as well. I keep some in the car and not only use it to "wash" my hands periodically, but use it to get off ticks while on a hiking day.

Music Woman
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85792 by Cape Cod Lightning Bug
Apr 16, 2007 4:08am
Thread (disabled) Board
I also heard that keeping a lint brush in the car (the sticky kind with tape) is a good thing to take ticks off clothing and skin.

Music Woman
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85851 by Bungalow Boxer
Apr 16, 2007 5:34am
Thread (disabled) Board
Quote I'm interested with why you're not allowed to put something on a tick?

I understand that the bacteria that causes lyme disease (and probably the other tick bourne illnesses as well), lives in the tick's belly. The disease takes anywhere from 9 to 24 hours to work its way out of the tick. This is why you have a little time after the tick bites to get rid of it to avoid the illness.

There are at least two things that can speed up the process; squeezing it by the body and thereby forcing the bacteria out and into you, and causing the tick to "get sick" by putting something on it that would cause this. I think alcohol is one of those things.

In any case prevention is the best cure. Folks should heed all advice and take the few precautions like using deet and checking after you leave the woods. Pack a pointy tweezers and maybe a small magnifying glass in your backpack. There are some specially designed tweezers out there you could pick up as well

Larry
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85862 by Lundy and Vickster
Apr 16, 2007 6:38am
Thread (disabled) Board
You got it, Lundy. I was looking for a reputable website that would explain this last night, but all I could find was the advice for removing ticks saying to never use alcohol or nail polish on them. My shaky understanding is that it basically makes them sick and they will throw up whatever is inside of them increasing your risk of getting diseases.

I know, ew.
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #85870 by ArchimedesScrew
Apr 17, 2007 4:39am
Thread (disabled) Board
A few friends and I were camping on Assateaque National Seashore in Maryland. AT the time I was a noxer, so I wasn't finding any boxes, just camping and partying. Well, we had this incredibly nice campground set up, dining fly, tents, fold out chair and tables, grills, etc. The first night we were there, this huge storm came and literally broke EVERYTHING, it actually ripped the top offf of our water proof tent, so we were sleeping in what was pretty much a collapsible fish bowl.

Well, we retired to the car and I was awaken in the morning to this HORRIBLE screaming. It seems that one of my friends had found a tick just starting to work into his skin. Well, he was able to brush it off and we loaded up the car with our wet stuff to go into town to dry it off.

Upon returning to the Island to clean up our campsite (we rented a hotel by this point) my friend slams on the brakes and nearly does a 190 in the middle of the road. I look at him, eyes wide, and say; "Dude, what is the freakin deal?"

He looks over at me, a look of fear I will never forget wanes across his face, and in an agonized croak from the bowels of his very being says: "Dude, I think I have a d*** tick." (for those of you who have not interpreted this yet, the d word rhymes with "tick")

Now, loving caring friend that I am, I immediately began laughing hard enough to nearly pee myself. I was the most outdoorsy out of the three of us, and when my laughter had subsided to a mere chuckling, I suggested he hold the tip of a lit cigarette up to the tick's butt (not touching it, just holding it like half an inch away) and this will cause the tick to back out. I had heard this works, and thankfully for my friend and his junk, it did.

I relay this story not so much for a viable tick removal option, but more so cuz I think it's a funny story. The cigarette thing did work though.

Mr. Yuk (still chuckles when he thinks of this story)
Re: Boxes on the way to the Cape?
Board: State: Massachusetts
Reply to: #86069 by Mr Yuk
Apr 17, 2007 5:43pm
Thread (disabled) Board
That is a funny story! At least your friend had a reason to scream, especially since he picked up a hitchhiker in a very private spot. Ticks do like to do their nasty business in private.

People have made children so fearful of ticks..... I had a 6th grader (outdoor tour) "silently" crying when she discovered a tick crawling on her jeans. She was so paralyzed with fear, she could not tell me what was wrong with her. She just pointed to her pants' leg, eyes wide, huge tears falling from her face. She cheered-up when I captured the dog tick on a piece of tape and handed it to her. I called it her "trophy".

Your tick story beats any tick story I've heard!

T. of
TheThreeCs