| Issue #3- April 13, 2007 |
Take a hike with Ken Kindler
Ticks Again
Spring is here and ticks are already abundant in the Pine Barrens. Some
Deer ticks and Lone Star ticks may carry diseases, including Lyme disease,
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis and Erlichiosis. You can greatly
reduce the risk of contracting these diseases by preparing for your
hike in advance. Wear light-colored long pants and a light-colored shirt
and socks. Women’s white knee-highs over socks or sock liners
under socks are necessary, because ticks can travel through thick, woven
athletic socks. Always tuck your pants into your socks. The DEET-based
insect repellents seem to have little effect on ticks, so use a repellent
containing permethrin and follow the directions. The instructions on
the aerosol cans instruct users to apply the spray 4 hours prior to
donning treated apparel. Spray both pairs of socks, sneakers and pants.
I suggest treating the entire pants (not just from the knees down),
because I have seen ticks occasionally grab on as high as mid-thigh
level. People with chemical allergies should seek medical advice regarding
use of permethrin. Clear tape is useful for removing ticks from clothing.
Also, quick wiping with a rag and isopropyl alcohol will remove large
numbers of larval ticks from untreated surfaces.
Stay on paths and try not to brush against vegetation. Inspect for ticks
periodically. If you see a tick on your clothing, pluck it off and flick
it into the woods. They are very “grabby” creatures, so
it takes a very determined flick to get them off your finger. Before
re-entering your vehicle, check yourself and have someone else check
you for ticks. To remove attached ticks, do not use petroleum jelly,
a hot match or other products. Use fine-pointed tweezers to grasp the
tick at the place of attachment, as close to the skin as possible without
crushing the tick. Gently pull the tick straight away from your body.
According to the Center for Disease Control, if a tick is attached to
your skin for less than 24 hours, the chance of contracting Lyme disease
is extremely small. An itchy red spot may develop, even if the tick
was only attached to the superficial layers of skin for a short time.
Later in the summer, the Lone Star larval ticks hatch in large numbers
and may cause hikers to have mysterious bumps that itch for weeks. Some
call them chiggers, but every sample I have sent to SC Vector Control
has been identified as Lone Star ticks. Late last summer, I treated
my clothes as described above and started refreshing the paint on the
yellow blazes heading southwest from the DEC 104 parking lot. The trail
was nearly closed-in by blueberry and scrub oak, even though several
groups of volunteers trimmed the trail back in the early spring. As
I walked through a portion of trail with dense lowbush blueberry plants
rubbing against my pant legs, I began to notice I was picking up splotches
of red on my pants. When I looked closely, I realized the splotches
were comprised of hundreds of tiny individual creatures. If my pants
had been untreated, they would have rapidly spread out looking for skin.
After a short while, unless you looked carefully, they would be so spread
out that you couldn’t see them. Unfortunately for my little six-legged
friends, they landed on treated pants. They rapidly crawled on top of
each other to avoid the permethrin-treated cloth,and literally dripped
off of my pants. At one point, my pants looked like they were splotched
with red mud, but it all “dripped” off. When I returned
home, there were hundreds of dead “specks” in my shoes between
layers of socks and in the outer creases of my clothing, but I didn’t
get a single bite.
For the past seventeen years, I have spent more time in the woods than
out. I periodically test for Lyme disease and have never contracted
it. I walk one hundred miles of trail a week (often through brush) and
do trail work. Every day when I come home from the woods, I check my
entire body for ticks. I don’t find them troubling because I understand
them. Simply stated, they grab on anywhere, from the shoe-laces to mid
thigh, and start traveling straight up, looking for a place to attach.
Looking and flicking them away has become almost an unconscious act.
It took a while to develop a method for dealing with larval ticks, but
it is effective. With this new understanding, I expect an easier method
for protection will be developed.
If you feel the way I do about Long Island’s beautiful natural
places, these extra precautions will not be burdensome.
Ken Kindler is a Trails and Open Space Advocate working to help the
trails groups and land managers care for our “Natural Island.”
If you would like to learn more about our trails or help care for them,
visit the Hiking Long Island website. www.hike-li.org
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