When Mrs ERJ and I married, our vows included the usual "For richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health..." but nowhere in our marriage vows were there any promises should we become besieged by Ixodidae.
Frankly, we are both pretty ticked-off at the situation.
Ticks!
Our current theory is that I bring them home on my person and clothing after working at The Property and the ticks disperse throughout the house from there.
The theory has much to recommend it. I am frequently working with one knee on the ground. The ground is grassy. Sometimes, I am even lying down while grafting.
There is no compelling evidence that washing the clothes or drying them on the "High" setting kills them.
Overkill
The word "overkill" implies that one can kill a vexing problem "too dead".
I will take my chances.
 |
| Just a very light sprinkling |
The new plan is for me to disrobe to my birthday suit after working at The Property and to deposit the clothes into a sealable tub.
Then, I am to sprinkle some insecticidal gardening dust* on my clothing, install the lid and then shake the bejabbers out of the assembly to ensure the dust is spread throughout the clothing. After I take my shower, the sealed tub is to be brought inside (insecticides don't work that well in the cold) and left untouched for 24 hours.
THEN the clothing will be washed.
Forgive the pun, but there are still a few bugs to be worked out. For instance, Mrs ERJ gently suggested that I wait until I am home before I disrobe.
*The active ingredient in Sevin used to be carbaryl which had a modest vapor pressure that allowed it to work even if the target did not contact the chemical. The current formulation uses bifenthrin as the active ingredient. Bifenthrin is MUCH longer lasting (months of activity) but that comes at the cost of a lower vapor pressure. That means that the target must contact the product before it is lethal.
You seriously need to protect yourself. Lymes disease is debilitating and tough to fix. Go ahead, ask me..
ReplyDeleteThe CDC recommends 10 minutes in a dryer on high to kill ticks, this is in addition to any time needed to actually dry your clothes. Bugs can become resistant to chemicals, but it's a lot harder to become resistant to getting cooked.
ReplyDeleteThe CDC manual for Tickborne diseases is 52 pages long. https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/media/pdfs/2025/03/tickborne-diseases-manual-508.pdf
DeleteLyme Disease, as bad as it is, is not the worst of the bunch.
Ticks were one of the reasons that native Americans east of the Mississippi River burned the forests and grasslands every eight years, on average.
We have done EVERYTHING wrong from the standpoint of controlling ticks. We don't burn roadside ditches and fence rows. We don't graze meadows down short. We don't hunt rabbits to very low numbers every year. we allow deer populations to explode. Mowing destroys sneks and other rodent control predators.....
It will only get worse
Joe, do you use any products like Off? If not, why not? I live in the
ReplyDeleteSouth, have property next to National Forest & daily walk my dogs
in the forest...no ticks or chiggers on me. I spray down socks, pants & shirt and then let them tumble on an air cycle (no heat)
to dry them. I don't like to put them on dampened by the chemicals.
I just started to wear gaiters and sprayed them with Adams Flea and TIck spray.
DeleteOne of my unique vulnerabilities is that I lie down on the grass to do weird stuff like plant pecan seednuts and to graft. I don't want to try to repel them. I want to kill any that on-board.
In the 60s Mom gave us 'Flowers Of Sulphur' to sprinkle on pant legs and boots to ward off ticks and chiggers. Worked too.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have cats, look into permethrin. You spray it on your clothes, and it kills ticks that touch it. Don't get it on you.
ReplyDeleteIf you have cats, maybe aquire overalls that never enter the house and treat them with it?
Squire
This 100%. My dog brings them in the house but it’s a never ending battle.
DeleteI’ve started dosing a batch of corn with ivermectin in the late winter and feeding the deer, mice, squirrels, raccoons etc. as part of the ticks lifecycle they overwinter on a host then, just prior to dropping off in the spring, enjoy a huge blood meal. This meal supports the development of eggs that become next summers problem. Kill them and protect their hosts and over time the overall tick load drops significantly.
Also, throw a sheet of plastic tarp down to lay on.
If you do have cats, Fipronil is a feline-safe alternative to pyrethroids
DeleteGuinea fowl are supposed to consume as much as 100s of ticks per day. That would help out in the orchard, but not so much in the house, obviously.
ReplyDeleteHad 6 guinea's at my place in Tx and with 6 cats and 3 dogs plus us and nary a tick to be found. They are noisy but nobody came near that we weren't aware of.
DeleteGuinea’s are tick eating beasts and great security alarms.
DeleteI used to have several big plots of bamboo. Started having problems with birds roosting in the bamboo and suddenly had a tick explosion. Ended up just killing out the bamboo to get it under control. Do you have any bird roosting areas near your orchard??
ReplyDeleteJoe, please consider that ticks are NOT insects. They are arachnids -- like spiders and scorpions. Nearly any poison will kill them, but you must (somehow) get it inside them.
ReplyDeleteNothing is "sure-fire", but I've found two products that work pretty well on scorpions: "DemonWP" and "DemandCS".
Hope this is helpful.
Ed / Dallas
Ticks can't stand garlic.
ReplyDeleteI forage, walk trails, and shower immediately afterwards as a first line of defense. Last year was really bad, and I still got bit by three different species.
ReplyDeleteClothes go into dryer for 10 minutes.
Clothes dryer on high for 10 minutes is effective. Takes a bit longer to kill bedbugs.
DeleteDryer gets up to 130°F (54°C), not much can survive that.
I use Permethrin spray. It will hold up for 3-4 washes. My logging buddy swears that rubbing diesel on boots pants and gloves will keep ticks off. Says he hasn't ever had a tick in 20 years of Virginia logging.
ReplyDeleteTicks have been a huge problem for homo sapiens for millennia. And finding an effective solution has always been challenging. But it's necessary because of the many diseases that the pests carry. We are very fortunate that they are not a real issue in the high desert environment.
ReplyDeleteWow. If we all ever have to bug out, Were really going to be ticked. Woody
ReplyDeletePants leg tucked into laced boots. Permethrin. Permethrin molecules stick better to synthetic fibers; my treated clothing has significant percentage of nylon and polyester, and I don’t wash it with detergent to preserve the treatment. I typically treat several garments/tarps/hammocks/packs at a time inside a plastic bag and really wet them down. Then the bag is scrunched up and tied down for a few days to allow the permethrin to really soak in and bond with the fibers.
ReplyDeleteTreating fabric equipment like tarps, tents, packs, etc. helps create a protective bubble, it’s not strictly necessary but it does help.
100%
Deletemicrowave the pants and shirt. 2 minutes will kill any living creature on your clothing. the zippers and metal buttons may make for some fireworks.
ReplyDeleteGet a jug of permethrin at the ag farm supply store, the quart for spraying cattle will cost around 30 dollars and treat a dozen loads of laundry. Put a roughly 1 oz jigger if chemical in the washing machine, no soap, and your clothing to treat. Let the washer fill, then shut off for an hour. After it's sat the hour, let it finish the cycle and dry as you normally would. Works like a champ. Consumption of enough garlic and Copenhagen seems to help fend them off, too
ReplyDeleteSecond the permethrin suggestion. It works and kills the ticks which get on your clothing.
ReplyDeleteLyme can be treated, but it is a long process worth a lot to avoid. See "Healing Lyme" 2nd edition
I have chronic Lyme for being diagnosed late (about 1 1/2 years late). For those who are treated with Doxycycline after a tick bite, it is imperative to also take 5 days of Ivermectin 12 mg/twice a day for a 200 lb person. Studies have shown 17% of lyme infected ticks also were infected with parasites. The untreated parasites may be the cause of chronic Lyme
DeleteAgreed
DeleteRead "Bitten" by Kris Newby
https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/long-before-suspicions-arose-about
If you still have dogs you won't want to use the permethrin, if I recall correctly - it's a deadly poison for canines.
ReplyDeleteI second the notion of taking garlic. It was actually Kenny (Wirecutter) that mentioned this on his blog, and I picked some up at Walmart and started taking it a couple of years ago, one daily. No garlic smell. Also, not a single tick, not one, and I am out in the brush multiple times weekly, and we have lots of ticks. Spring Valley, 1000 mg, 200 per bottle is very inexpensive.
DeleteGuess I'm lucky, I've never seen a tick. My old bobby dawg, not so lucky. He had a bacterial infection last year that was very debilitating, took many months of antibiotics and steroids. The michigan vet said it was from a tick found in the south. Our florida vet vet said no, it was a northern tick. Either way, old bob had a rough time of it.
ReplyDeleteGet clothes from Gamehide. They make clothes which are impregnated with permethrin, which potency, they claim, is maintained through 50+ washings. I lived on 20 acres of grass, wildflowers, cattails, etc. and used to get 5-20 ticks on me every time I walked. I also spend time in the woods cutting firewood, and trout fishing small stream in deep cover. I bought a pair of socks, a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt from Gamehide If anything the stuff works better than they claim. Wear it while working in tick areas and you will not have one single tick on you. I would also spray permethrin on my boots as an extra protection.
ReplyDeleteBuy some water soluble sulphur powder at the ag store. Put some in an old sock and dust your wearing socks and shoes before putting your feet in the shoes and then pants after, as high as you think you need to go. It helps but not 100%. It’s the same sulphur powder you may be putting down for chickens to fluff in for their insect protection
ReplyDelete