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TICKS!! Eeeewwww; Help me!
Topic Started: May 14 2007, 06:54 AM (285 Views)
DairyQueen2049
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DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
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This is the first time I have seen one - and it was on hubby! :o (We rode all weekend and morrel mushroom hunted) - how do you find them on the horse?
How do you remove them once you find them?

How do you keep thier bloodthirsty gross things OFFFF you???

Thank you!!
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vxf111
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Oh god, I hate them.

DEET is the only thing that even makes those little bloodsuckers take pause. The only true way to keep them off is to wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into your boots.

There are 100s of ways to remove them, but I find the best way is with a tweezer and be very careful, gentle to get right down to their head and lift up from there until they release so they they don't leave the biters in your skin. The biters are what itch.

Good god, I HATE ticks. Ugh.
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DairyQueen2049
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DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
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Now I think of my mare using her teeth to scratch her self this weekend and I can't wait to go check her over.



EEEEEwwwwww!!!!!
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MissBri
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But, I don't care - it's 5:00 somewhere
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AH ticks.......

Even with long pants tucked in my muck boots, long sleeve shirt with a nylon jacket over it (with elastic wrists), gloves, and a hat, I came home from trail clearing with eight (yes eight) ticks. One on my back, one under my breast, one on my leg, my neck, the rest were simply on the jacket and pants. So EVEN if you think you are impenetrable, think again.

I am in tick central, and I am a tick magnet..... yuk :shoot: just shoot me now!

I hate the buggers... :pissed:
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vxf111
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When I lived in RI, we used to go hiking every weekend with the dog. Once time we came back and, despite all precautions (long pants, DEET, staying away from tick brush etc.), we removed FORTY TICKS from 3 people and 1 dog (toy poodle, not much to bite), along with 10 ticks that had BITTEN INTO THE LEATHER COLLAR AND LEASH.

Ew, ew, ew... I just HATE them. Ew.
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La Gringa
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Starving Artist
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I get grossed out by the little buggers. :spew:

I found two on my mare this weekend, before they had latched on. We had just been on a trail ride in the tall grass.

I think that if you get a strong fly spray and really treat your horse regularly it will help.

As for human protection, just check yourself after working with the horses, or on trail rides. Deet is a help as well (also helps with the flying pests as well)

Ticks are no fun. They are so gross.

Did you know they are related to spiders and scorpions? They are not even a regular insect. They have 8 legs!! Ewwwww

They hang onto a blade of grass just waiting for you to walk by, or drop on you from above (from a tree).

If you are in the woods, always check too. :o

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DairyQueen2049
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DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
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La Gringa
May 14 2007, 07:40 AM


drop on you from above (from a tree).


OH. MY. TOM!!!!!!!! :o

I will never ever look at a tree the same again.
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vxf111
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They are soooo gross. The grossest are the ones you don't find until they're all light gray, and swollen to engorgement with blood and ready to come off. Ugh. Ugh. UGH! RI was just crawling with them. I think all of New England is. PA/NJ is pretty bad, but not as bad. GA was much much better.

I like deer but seriously, they are VECTORS and I don't like seeing them or having them around. They are just RIDDLED with ticks.

Rhode Island was also overrun with snakes. Huge, long, black ones--- at least an inch and a half in diameter. They were all over the place. Sunning themselves on the patio, chilling in the pool, getting smooshed on the driveway.

Seriously, I only lived in RI for 3 years but I was scared to go outside every minute of those years.
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MissBri
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But, I don't care - it's 5:00 somewhere
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Ticks up here (north shore area of MA) are - how shall I put it - abundent, very, very, abundent. Teeming is another word that comes readily to mind.
they are just gross and unnecessary, completely unnecessary. :rolleyes:
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OTF
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I realize that not everyone rides or keeps a horse at home, but IF you do have some acreage and neighbors who aren't close by, consider Guinea hens....YES, they're noisy, irritating, weird at times, wild, strange birds, BUT!!! They eat ticks! They LOVE ticks! We've got about 13 or so of the wacky birds; they roam around the yard, patrol the pastures on a daily basis, nest in the trees at night (we locked them out of the barn to keep them from pooping on everything). They can fly quite well for short distances, they are fairly hardy (except for their baby "keets" that are very susceptible to damp conditions or wet grass; if the babies can't keep up with mom, she just keeps on going and never looks back, guess that's why they try to hatch out about 30-40 eggs in a nest).

We only find an occasional tick on the property where the house is. Ticks are disgusting and awful; in fact, even though I believe every living creature must have a purpose, I'm not sure what ticks are for (except to keep guineas well fed). Guineas are not for everybody, I realize, but they are one GOOD solution to a tick problem.
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Ice Princess
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Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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We had some wild guinea hens living in the woods near my barn last summer.. they sure got loud sometimes and came up close to the ring (mare was :jaw: when she first heard them lol) but I hope they come back because I've been trail riding every day and yesterday pulled 4 ticks off my horse! :shoot: I hate them.. and it scares me that I found 4.. who knows how many others I couldn't see or find! :no:
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Touchstone
We're on a bridge, Chaaaaaaaaarlie!
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This past weekend at the Lexington Encore, FLGAl's daughter spent a good hour or more picking ticks off a pony's tail. It was disgusting :spew:

Pony's tail was dark black so the ticks were hard to see. They found the first one - i think- by accident and plucked it away using forceps. As they sectioned the hair away they found more and more... note to all... if your horse is turned out, check the dock of their tail very well.

We haven't had too much trouble in the past few years (huge pastures with only trees along one fence line). In the past, we had great success with the drops (came in a black box) you use behind the ears, backs of legs, down their mane and at the top of the tail.

Sure are nasty critters. :pissed:
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DairyQueen2049
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DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
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Guinea hens??!! Nasty noisy disgusting evil noisy horrificly noisy GUINEA hens? :brickwall:

The kind that then their only redeeming quality is they eat ticks GUINEA HENS??

Oh. My. Tom. i still dunno if I can stand them.
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vxf111
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I absolutely hate guinea hens, but I'll take them over ticks any day.
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OTF
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Guineas may be the lesser of two evils. Did I mention that they do come in all sorts of colors? And that I've found ZERO ticks on the donkeys? :P
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