A serious problem....HELP

[Skye]

This probably belongs somewhere else, but .......

I need help, my yard is infested with deer ticks.......
I have tryed to kill them with several chemicals specifically for killing them, nothing is working......

I even cast a spell for relief of the problem

it has gotten so bad, I can not walk to my truck without having several of the little 'things' crawling on me, my horses think I have abandon them....don't dare stay to long in the barn....I'd be eaten alive.

Anyone have any good solutions?

[Danustouch]

I remember a thread on this in greenroom a while back, I think that if you mix lavendar, and lemonbalm, and perhaps another ingredient, it works. In the mean time, I believe that any good camping/survival store, and perhaps some pharmacies DO carry tick repellant these days. Wear pants, with your socks rolled up over the legs, so the ticks can't crawl under the leg of your pants, and long sleeves. Try to keep your grass mowed very short, and stay away from "woodsy" borders around your lawn.

[Old Witch]

And be very careful.......Deer ticks carry Lyme Disease and as Ken (my husband) had it 3 yrs. ago, it's as bad as everyone says it is................................

[Mithrea]

Hi :wave:

I posted about ticks earlier in the summer. You might find something there: http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15853&highlight=tick

[Witchy Cowgirl]

That is an awful problem. Unfortunantely I don't have any solutions. I will however keep you and your horses in my thoughts and prayers.

[Skye]

Thanx everyone,

I am fairly use to the tick problem in the summer, I always do the yard, and use frontline on my dog. This always takes care of the pesky brown dog ticks, but for some reason this year I have been over run with the deer ticks.

And thanxs WC, I did go to my doc the other day and he ran a test for lime disease because I had so many problems lately and have so many ticks imbedded in me this year.

[flar7]

well, Sevin Dust. Malathion. those work pretty well.

if you live in the country, you might think about some free range
chickens, or chickens that you let out during the day.(they love ticks)

talk to a vet about the barn though, sevin dust is very toxic as is
Malathion, and I am not sure about how close to horses you can
use it.

they also have different brands of tick crystals, but they require
moisture to activate after being seeded.

Do you have dogs? how many? if so, use something like advantage that kills ticks and stops reproduction.


those are just a few ideas.

when I lived in the styx we did all of them, worked fairly well.;)

[Skye]

Originally posted by flar7
well, Sevin Dust. Malathion. those work pretty well.



We thought about Malathion, but we didn't know if it would just kill what was already in the yard, or if it would keep killing for a period of time after it was spread.

Do you know Flar7?

[flar7]

malathion if used correctly will work to keep the bugs down for
about a month. which is plenty, cause if you do other stuff to
help control the population, they wont come back as thick.
;)


and be careful when spraying the stuff. wear protective gear,
and keep the kids away for a day. (no barefoot kids out there for a day.)

[Old Witch]

And the dogs too, actually any living thing that has pores on its feet.........and if you have a fishpool or a pond where the overspray or runoff might go.....horsetroughs (Sp?) or the like..............

[StormChaser]

Guinea Hens are great for deer ticks.

My ex found out he had lyme disease 6 years after contracting.. it was in his spinal fluid. Don't take the risk. Get tested and be very careful.

If you want to know his personal account email me and I'll send you his journal logs. We made them public for people to get an understanding, we pulled them because of how many hits they were getting was taking a lot of bandwidth
i may convince him to put them on a free account.
Trust me though, it wasn't pretty. We even have video log.

[kblackthorne]

Along with the other precautions you might try increasing the garlic & brewer's yeast in your diet.

These tend to make you tast yucky to bugs. I've kept my cats flea-free by lacing their food with both. (When I didn't do it, they had fleas. When I did, they didn't.)

I don't know how well it works with ticks, but it's one of those things that can't hurt and might help.