North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

Charlie, you discourage me.  I haven't seen any ticks yet, but you are
quite close to me, so it's probably a matter of time.

On the bright side, it appears to take about a day of the tick being
embedded in you to catch Lyme disease - so if you check yourself
carefully when you come in, you will probably be okay.

I can vouch for the critters:  deer, coyote, foxes, woodchucks, skunks,
rabbits, hares, raccoons, opossums, red & grey squirrels, chipmunks,
mice, voles, are all lurking around built-up suburbia.

Ginda Fisher
Eastern Massachusetts, zone 6

Charles Paradise wrote:
> 
> What are you doing about ticks?  I pick them up every week.  Within a four 
> day period two weeks
> ago, I found 3 deer ticks:  tiny, so small they can be seen but not felt.  
> I had never even seen
> deer ticks up until that time.  And so far during 2002, 5 dog ticks.  In 
> 2001, I picked up 13
> dog ticks, 4 of them embedded.
> 
> So is there any way to repel these ticks?  I now just simply expect to pick 
> them up, no matter
> how much I try to avoid the bush.  Unless I give up horticulture, I can't 
> expect to reduce the
> number of ticks that jump me.  I wear tall rubber boots now when I go out 
> back, and I'm sure
> they'll help some, but I don't think it will stop them.  I change my 
> clothes and take them
> straight to the washer after being outside, but I know that hasn't stopped 
> them..
> 
> Now for some specific questions:
> 1]  how many of you are using DEET?  Would DEET work if sprayed on socks 
> and gloves, that could
> then be removed and washed?  Is it necessary to spray DEET on skin for it 
> to work?
> 2]  has anyone tried a natural plant like garlic?  Is any reliably 
> effective?
> 3]  any other specific techniques or ideas?
> Charlie Paradise
> Massachusetts zone 5
> Massachusetts features much more foliation and wooded acres than any time 
> since the early
> 1700's.  Creatures such as woodchuck, coyote, rabbits, and skunk are many 
> times more common than
> 20 years ago, and deer are seen even in suburban areas.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Most questions can be answered here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary 
> files, plain text ONLY!
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> To view your user options go to:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where XXXX@XXXX is
> YOUR email address)
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/