OK, let's get down to some serious recommendations. My background. BS in entomology with courses in medical entomology that included study of ticks. Four decades as a backpacker, now living in Maine where deer ticks carry Lyme and a virus that can kill in weeks if untreated. Here is my daily anti-tick regimen. 1. Wear 16" boots with trousers tucked inside. 2. Clothing should be light colored. Stop often to look for ticks crawling up clothing, especially after walking through brush. 3. Clear a path to important spots on the property. That means rake it to bare ground, removing vegetation. 4. Immediately after returning home, remove every stitch of clothing and put it into either a dryer or a low temp oven, either of which will kill ticks hiding on your clothing. 5. In bright light with a handheld mirror (or a person you trust), do a complete tick check before getting into a hot shower with brush and scrubber. Them suckers can't hold on in hot water with soap, hair brush and a scrubber. Pay particular attention to hairy places like ... the nape of the neck. 6. Treat your clothes with pyrethrin spray. Lasts for weeks and multiple washings. Ticks crawling on treated clothing die with no toxic effects to you.
Read an article the other day about a 2 or 3 year-old dying from RMSF. First diagnosed with strep, and they just could fight it when they found it was RMSF. Pretty heartbreaking.
I noticed they were pretty heavy in my area earlier in the season, but it seems they've thinned out some. The local farmer's co-op crowd were predicting this being a bad year for them.
I buy this 10% permethrin https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product...mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1L0J6J9ZYHA6P and mix 1 ounce of it with 15 ounces of water. It's about the equivalent of the Sawyer's clothing spray stuff, but a lot cheaper. Then I spray down all my clothes with it ahead of time to let it dry. I haven't had any tick problems since I started doing this. And Missouri is terrible bad with the little tick bastards.
There are so many differentials in looking at a rash in summer: ITP, Kawasaki, Group A Strep with Scarlatina, etc. Since RMSF tends to hit children (especially 5-9yo) more often than adults, always mention that to the treating clinician. Just like anything else, Zebras are frequently missed. Your description, like saying "my kid actually plays outside instead of on the couch with a video game all day" may be the difference between good health and death.
Good advice. In my experience ticks tend to head north so it's worth checking your wedding vegetables carefully. Not doing so can be painful. I know.
Any advice for avoiding ticks while making/ sleeping in brush shelters.... when I was a kid I made all types of shelters in the boy scouts and on my own. When I lived in South east Asia I made all manner of jungle hooch without a care in the world but now that I'm back in the Northeast I'm really concerned about Lymes disease and other tick borne illness, not just for me but for my daughter I would love to build brush shelters and Wikiups with her and make browse beds but the idea of me getting or worse her getting lymes freaks me out. Anyone have advice for dealing with or making relatively tick free primitive shelters
I had RMSF about 3 months ago. Never had any "spots" though I tested positive for some antibodies of it. Had to take antibiotics for 2 weeks. Ticks have been bad this year (somewhere in the bluegrass)
sweep the ground clean to bare forest floor, then spray with pyrethrin spray. (or PermeThrine Spray) Lay down your browse bed and then cover with a ground sheet (cheap tarp, plastic sheet etc) and put your bedding on top of that. caveat about pyrethrin spray, it can kill cats and birds. Don;t let your murder mittens or flying friends come in contact with it or clothes sprayed with it. Harmless to kids and humans..