Getting Ticked off

[windmtnpete]

The enemy has taken over our trails here in the Columbia River Gorge....

I've never experienced such a massive number of ticks. There's also massive numbers of biting gnats that are multiplying like crazy this year.

Anyone know of a solution? Might this be a situation where chemical warfare ( deet or permethrin) is the only solution??

[Webfoot]

I had my first experience with ticks last year. I thought perhaps I had been especially lucky until now or I was just getting more adventurous (I am), but if these are getting worse that also explains it. On the same hike one of the little buggers crawled up behind my ear and another was inside my waistband no doubt heading south. Sure glad I got those blighters off before they dug in!

I have since treated my pants and socks with Permethrin and it seems to be working. I did have one crawling on my shirt the other day so I guess I need to treat my shirts too. I wonder what else I am poisoning by using these chemicals.

[BigBear]

I guess "your mileage may vary." I have hiked various routes on the Catherine Creek Syncline 4 times, and a hike each to Memaloose Hills, Rowena Plateau & the the loop around Tom McCall Point these past two months and I have only found one tick.

The record for me was a drizzly day at Deschutes River where I brought 12 ticks back to the trailhead (fortunately they were on my clothes and in my pockets, not attached. This was many years ago when i foolishly thought ticks only came out on sunny days, and payed no mind to brushing against tall grass and sage.

[drm]

Solution 1: go snowshoeing.

Solution 2: hike on wide trails/roads (i.e. Klickitat Trail, Deschutes River, etc).

Solution 3: hike in a rainforest (they seem to prefer dry areas, right?).

[Chip Down]

Can't recall ever seeing a tick.
Also, never had a poison oak reaction.
And yes, I do go offtrail.
Just lucky, I guess. But I do make a point of wearing pants/gaiters/turtleneck, for what it's worth. Sometimes even light gloves if it's not too hot.
So yeah, when I get back on trail, I look like a cleanroom worker in a bunnysuit, and the flip flop crowd looks at me funny.
Only time I use deet/permethrin is when the skeeter season arrives.

[windmtnpete]

Solution 1: go snowshoeing.

Solution 2: hike on wide trails/roads (i.e. Klickitat Trail, Deschutes River, etc).

Solution 3: hike in a rainforest (they seem to prefer dry areas, right?).

I'll take door #2 please. I'm a backcountry skier and Door #3 is wrong according to this....

"Favoring cooler, moister climatic conditions, they (the enemy) typically become active by mid-March, peak by early May, and are absent by late July to mid-August when the west coast is in the middle of its hot, dry season. Nymphs may be found on the trunks of trees and on downed logs during spring and summer."

http://www.stopticks.org/ticks/tickwestblacklegged.asp


Well, obviously there's plenty of downed logs at the place where I was slashing yesterday.... and I was on the menu for breakfast to these lovely little creatures. I feel a sense of pride to have supported the local eatery here. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to tick bites and I get big bumps where the bite happens and it stays that way for weeks. The doctor was amazed at the reaction my body has, however he said the ticks in this area do not carry Lyme disease.

[Webfoot]

The doctor was amazed at the reaction my body has, however he said the ticks in this area do not carry Lyme disease.

Danger, Will Robinson! Most ticks in the area may not carry the Lyme disease parasite but I am not prepared to risk my health on that wager whatever the odds. I read of a case where the person contracted Lyme disease and had to travel to the eastern US to get a confirmation and treatment because "we don't have that disease here." You have yourself observed that the number of ticks has changed recently; why believe that the occurrence of the parasite cannot have changed as well?

[adamschneider]

It may be an overstatement to say there's NO Lyme disease here, but it's absolutely true that the risk in the PNW is extremely low compared to other parts of the country. (It may be due to our magic lizards.) Most Oregonians who've gotten Lyme disease contracted it while traveling somewhere far east of here.

[Webfoot]

It may indeed be extremely low but I don't like the idea of being told offhand that it's a non-issue. Your lizard story (cool, btw) says "So far, the lizards have kept California's endemic Lyme disease very low, though it does exist here." Nothing's perfect.

[texasbb]

It's chemical warfare all the way for me. I'm probably more averse to chemicals on my body than just about anyone here--I won't use cologne, sunscreen, DEET, or even perfumed soap and shampoo--but the nasty, nasty diseases carried by ticks leads me to use Permethrin regularly. I like that it's on my clothes and not me. I like that it works.