How do you keep ticks off?

[EasternNewtLove]

So, I'm excited Spring has come, and with, my favorite animals. However, my least favorites as well. Ticks an mosquitoes. How do you keep these pests away? Any special methods you use or do you just hope you don't get any and take them off as you see them? I found some frogs, salamanders, an eft, and salamanders in the past two days by the way. Rana Clamitans, Rana Catesbeiana, Notphthalmus Viridescens V. (eft stage), and Plethodon Cinerus (red back and lead back). I saw a garter snake, but it got away before I got a pic....

 

[Otterwoman]

This year I bought permethrin to try and when I come home I'm showering in flea and tick shampoo for dogs. I got Lyme's last year from a place infested with ticks but....there be newts there! I have to go back!

 

[sallie2010]

I have the same fear...ticks...ugh. I found a all natural yard,house, and pet spray. I figure if you can dip a 6wk puppy in it then its OK The name is Natural Guard Lawn, Plant, and Pet Insect Spray. I get it at a feed/garden store. The ingredients are Cedar Oil and Juniperus Virginiana. I use a 10% solution and put it in a spray bottle. I spray by boots to sit over night and then when I get to place I go I spray my jeans and my shirt.
Depending on the tick; deer ticks are attracted to the carbon dioxide your body exudes. The idea of the spray is to mask and then repel the tick.
When I was doing my Master's Program at Washington University we did a tick experiment at Tyson Research Center. We found that there were more ticks near water than an in the woods with less moisture. Once you have seen that experiment you are more aware of being stalked in the woods. When I stopped to identify some plants I looked down and found ticks swarming to me. Ugh

 

[areynoldssr]

If you like garlic eat some raw with your food. If a tick or flea does get on you they leave they don't like that taste. I am always in the woods catching food for my babies and I have no problem with them.

 

[KingCam]

This year I bought permethrin to try and when I come home I'm showering in flea and tick shampoo for dogs. I got Lyme's last year from a place infested with ticks but....there be newts there! I have to go back!

I also have a set of "field herping" clothes that I treat with permethrin to kill any ticks, mosquitoes, or chiggers that get on me.

HOWEVER!!! You must be extremely cautious to keep amphibians away from your clothes. You honestly shouldn't even touch a salamander or wade through a pool if you have permethrin on your clothes. It's supposedly not soluble in water, but I dunno if I'd want to risk it. Amphibians have extremely sensitive skin, and I believe permethrin could kill them easily.

 

[Lamb]

I've been fortunate. I've only ever had one tick attach and embed over the past 4 years (at least as far as I've seen), although I've found multiple crawling around on the outside of my clothing. Because I react very strongly to poison ivy, oak, and sumac, I wear long sleeves and pants, even in the heat of the Mississippi summer. It means lugging more water around with me, but it generally keeps the plant oils away, helps reduce the number of mosquito bites, and makes it much more difficult for ticks to find someplace to bury their tiny heads. I also wear tall socks, and if I become really paranoid, I'll tuck my pants into my shoes over my socks (a very attractive look, btw). Also, if I know I'm in a location where I frequently see ticks, I check myself before getting into the truck. I give myself a good visual scan and a shower as soon as I get home, and usually only recycle (re-wear) pants. Everything else goes into a bin especially for field clothes.

Honestly, for me, a much bigger problem at my study sites are the hoards of mosquitoes. Because we didn't get very cold this winter, I have a feeling that they are going to be even worse this year. I don't like worrying about DEET, so I avoid anything containing it. I do have a DEET free mosquito spray, but it doesn't do much after 10 min of sweating.

 

[Molch]

gosh, I hate ticks. We don't have any of those in Alaska, thank evolution.

Mosquitos don't bother me; after all, they don't carry any diseases up here. I just ignore them. Mosquitos occur at phenomenal densities on the Arctic tundra. They get so dense that you may have to breathe with a cloth in front of your mouth if you don't want to swallow them by the hundreds.

I've had people go nuts around me from the bugs, and then they get hysterical and scream and make funny dancing and slapping movements and spray bug dope everywhere and cry and wail that they hate Alaska and want to go home - it's quite amusing. Then they get mad at me because I don't react to mosquitos, and they accuse me of being deliberately cruel and indifferent to their suffering because I don't get hysterical about mosquitos and I don't share their torture. I assure them (calmly) that I get bitten just as often, but that after many years of zen-like mind control my immune system has stopped reacting to mosquitos, and that at any rate the bug bites are a lot healthier for you than the mosquito dope all over your skin. I don't get any welts or spots or physical reactions any more but yes, I do feel it when they bite. I try to explain that no one ever died of mosquito bites, which makes it all a mental challenge rather than a physical one, and which means that the best defense against mosquitos is the same that you would employ against annoying people: just ignore them, and pretend they are not there. This response usually makes people even madder. Oh well I try.....

 

[EasternNewtLove]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll definitely try them out

 

[Otterwoman]

HOWEVER!!! You must be extremely cautious to keep amphibians away from your clothes. You honestly shouldn't even touch a salamander or wade through a pool if you have permethrin on your clothes. It's supposedly not soluble in water, but I dunno if I'd want to risk it. Amphibians have extremely sensitive skin, and I believe permethrin could kill them easily.

That did occur to me. I am going to be very careful.