UKC

So I was in Torridon at the weekend. Despite the warm leather I decided not to wear shorts as I was doing a fair bit of bog-trotting. Wore a pair of trousers (Patagonia Guide) which have what amounts to integral gaiters, more or less sealing across the top of the boots. I had these on the whole time.

Somehow or other a tick still seems to have managed to get under these, and crawl a good few inches up my leg before attaching itself. Pulled most of the wee bastard out last night but I reckon there's still a wee bit still in there, despite a bit of foraging with a sterilised pin.

Does it make more sense to just wear shorts and check your legs every half-hour or so? Just a thought.

I had more or less ignored the possibility of getting a tick in my leg, until about 22:00 last night, when I was suddenly aware of an itchy spot on my lower leg...

In reply to DougG:

I've had similar a couple of tomes this year, I painted the area with artificial skin to antisepticise and seal .. seemed to work

In reply to DougG: one really is not bad compared i think if you wore shorts you would be pulling a few out, thing is once they are in, they are in, esp if you doing a fair bit of bog hopping, id stick with the pantaloons and take my chances! Like your idea of the pin though, when i last thought a head was in a used the tip of my petzl spartha, ahemmmm still got the scar!

In reply to DougG:

useful article here - http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=398

Alan

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Aye, thanks Alan.

Hate getting bitten by those things. Lyme disease may be unlikely, but still...

In reply to DougG:

A good lathering of Nikwax 'Skitostop Insect control for fabrics' around the bottom of the trousers from the knee down works wonders. Contains permethrin and kills the little b@$t@rds.

In reply to Paul F:

Will need to look out for that, cheers.

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

That picture is truely gross!

While in the amazonian jungle a few years ago my bf and I used to have to remove about 10 ticks per day between us for about a week. I didn't notice that one had crawled right into my belly button until a couple of days after we'd left when it was so swollen it poked out. I was horrifed.

In reply to DougG:
I've always used paint thinners to remove ticks from my dog, just cover the tick with thinners and it dries right up within a day and can picked out easily. Never used this technique on myself but don't see any difference?

In reply to Stu Jones: Using anything like vaseline, matches, spirits etc makes them vomit into your blood, and increase chances of infection. Your poor dog.

In reply to Stu Jones:

Trouble is, I didn't spot straight away that it was a tick. I'd basically scratched the bit where it was itchy, it was only when I looked at my finger that I saw the remains of a tick...

In reply to DougG:

I'm fortunate in that I don't get bitten by ticks at all. It's weird because midgies and mozzies eat me alive. Anybody else not get bit?

In reply to DougG:

Time to go shopping I think!

http://www.otom.com/siteus/home.html

In reply to Toby S:

Probably be more succesful (and involve a lot less yelping on my part) than MrsG's attempts to remove the remains of that tick last night!

In reply to DougG:

Letting the wife stab at you with a pin is never a good idea!

In reply to Wee Davie:

Not in a Beaton's midge jacket !

http://www.midgejacket.co.uk/index.htm

In reply to Wee Davie: I'm usually tick-free too but midges love me!!

In reply to ring ouzel / Wee Davie:

Hmmm... Plean, Paisley - there's a pattern developing here.

In reply to DougG: They are scared of anywhere beginning with P? Anyone in the house from Pollockshaws? JAB lives near Polmont, maybe they only nibble him?

In reply to DougG:

Maybe the tick was a bit kinky and liked the feel of warm leather.

)

Jase

In reply to DougG:
Gie yer legs a rub doon wi a dose of Jamie Stewart's Auld Brig - works every time (in extremis ye can drink it as well!)

In reply to DougG:

Never been bitten by a tick..(touches wood!) but midgies and virtually every other bitey thing eats me alive! A West Coast of Scotland thing? :oP

In reply to DougG: I think tucking your trousers deep into your socks is a good idea if you're going anywhere ticky and ok it makes you look like a pleb, but after coming home with 12 ticks I decided I'd rather look a pleb. Also, even if I've tucked my trousers into my socks, first thing I do when I get back to tent/bothy/home is to check myself ALL OVER, either with the help of a mirror or with someone willing.

In reply to DougG: When I was running on Jura (where they are a big problem) in shorts, I caked the lower part of my legs with Deep Heat, that seemed to keep the little buggers at bay.
If one gets you a drop of neat Spillers Anti Pest (Flea) Dog Shampoo will get the little bugger to drop off.

In reply to anansie:

No, I've never knowingly picked one up (they don't always do the big bloaty thing so you don't always see) but I've had them on the dog in Dorset, the Peak, The Lakes and North Wales.

I was talking to a keeper friend about them, and he reckoned pheasants are the worst culprit for carrying ticks!

In reply to Al Evans:

Jura seems to be particularly bad for ticks.

There is an old (18th-century?) account of life on the Highlands & Islands by a native Gaelic speaker called Martin Martin (!); he described seeing a lot of infirm people on Jura. Have seen some speculation that this might be down to untreated Lyme disease.

In reply to Wee Davie:

Actually mossies never bother me, but I did once get a tick on exercise in France. Our medic removed it not with tweezers, but with an alcohol wipe. It released its grip immediately and the medic just wiped a couple of times to draw it out, intact.

In reply to DougG:
They seem bad in the NW this Spring.
We were crawling with them at Letterewe a couple of weeks back - picked literally hundreds off our clothes, all sorts of sizes. Miraculously, I only ended up with one embedded and Jen avoided getting any.
If you look at the higher bits of vegetation you can often see them waiting there, front legs extended, ready to hitch a ride:
http://www.dreamsofmountains.co.uk/spring2009/20090426Ticks.jpg
<shudder>

In reply to skog:

Jeez... they really are horrible wee bastards.

In reply to DougG: My partner got one in Trowbarrow, it was hard to see, I got it off with tweezers, clean.

Stu

In reply to Wee Davie:

I seem to be the same with no ticks but midgies and mozzies.

In reply to DougG:
You can buy a tick remover from any vet for about £4. Its 'unscrews' them so they dont break up on you.
Those Alcohol wipes sound a good idea too!

http://www.otom.com/