Walked the section of the South West Coastal path from Clovelly to Westward Ho! on Wednesday. Sections of the path were overgrown with waist high ferns, probably due to the very light foot traffic recently, caused by the crappy weather . . . After dinner and a few drinks at the Cook Island pub at Mullacott Cross my wife Rachel and I returned to the hotel, where I took a shower and retired to bed. As I was getting dressed on Thursday morning Rachel pointed to the area just to the left of my left nipple and said "Whats that ? OH MY GOD ITS MOVING ! ! ! !" Sure enough there was a little critter, about the size of a match head, well embedded. I presume he'd crawled up the sleeve of my tee shirt while I was battling through the undergrowth with my arms raised to avoid the nettles. With the help of Rachel's eyebrow tweezers, slightly reshaped, I managed to get him out, although he tried his very best to stay put. On inspection he appeared to be intact, with all his mouth parts still attached, and was very much still alive and trying to burrow his way into the piece of tissue paper he'd been placed on. Anyway, he was soon consigned to a watery grave, courtesy of the toilet. I was quite surprised at the size of the hole he'd made while he was feasting on me - a neat little cut about 4mm in length. The area around the wound was a little red, but has since returned to normal, and all that remains now is a tiny red line. I shudder to think what may have happened if the weather had been better and I'd worn shorts . . . . .
"Steve Wilcox" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Walked the section of the South West Coastal path from Clovelly to Westward Ho! on Wednesday. Sections of the path were overgrown with waist high ferns, probably due to the very light foot traffic recently, caused by the crappy weather . . . After dinner and a few drinks at the Cook Island pub at Mullacott Cross my wife Rachel and I returned to the hotel, where I took a shower and retired to bed. As I was getting dressed on Thursday morning Rachel pointed to the area just to the left of my left nipple and said "Whats that ? OH MY GOD ITS MOVING ! ! ! !" Sure enough there was a little critter, about the size of a match head, well embedded. I presume he'd crawled up the sleeve of my tee shirt while I was battling through the undergrowth with my arms raised to avoid the nettles. With the help of Rachel's eyebrow tweezers, slightly reshaped, I managed to get him out, although he tried his very best to stay put. On inspection he appeared to be intact, with all his mouth parts still attached, and was very much still alive and trying to burrow his way into the piece of tissue paper he'd been placed on. Anyway, he was soon consigned to a watery grave, courtesy of the toilet. I was quite surprised at the size of the hole he'd made while he was feasting on me - a neat little cut about 4mm in length. The area around the wound was a little red, but has since returned to normal, and all that remains now is a tiny red line. I shudder to think what may have happened if the weather had been better and I'd worn shorts . . . . .
Steve Wilcox
Speaking of ticks, anyone know where one can buy a set of tick removal tools of different sizes?
Speaking of ticks, anyone know where one can buy a set of tick removal tools of different sizes?
I take them out with a potato peeler - like taking the eye out of a spud. This way takes a bit of meat out as well, but you make sure you've got all the b****rd. ;^)
In message <[email hidden]>, Bryan Hall <[email hidden]> writes
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You don't need different sizes - the design is one size fits all, its the head/mouth bit the stays the same, the body that swells
Best bet -the local pet shop or vets
Since my last one I now carry a plastic removal tool in my 1st aid kit. never something I've needed before
Quoted message said:
Speaking of ticks, anyone know where one can buy a set of tick removal tools of different sizes?
I've mentioned this before, but if you have a redundant plastic store card, then cut a narrow "V" into it. the V could be say 1 inch long and about 1/8" at its widest end. If you are unlucky enough to have a tick, then slide the V close to the skin right up to the tick and then lift straight out.
In message <[email hidden]>, Jim Ford <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
Peter said:
Speaking of ticks, anyone know where one can buy a set of tick removal tools of different sizes?
I take them out with a potato peeler - like taking the eye out of a spud. This way takes a bit of meat out as well, but you make sure you've got all the b****rd. ;^)
Jim Ford
Swing the lights and I'll tell you a tale of the sea :-) -- Bill Grey
In message <[email hidden]>, Jim Ford <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
Peter said:
Speaking of ticks, anyone know where one can buy a set of tick removal tools of different sizes?
I take them out with a potato peeler - like taking the eye out of a spud. This way takes a bit of meat out as well, but you make sure you've got all the b****rd. ;^)
Jim Ford
Swing the lights and I'll tell you a tale of the sea :-)
It's ages since I heard that "Swing the Lamp" line, Bill! Am I the only one here who has never had a tick attach itself? -- Gordon H (Remove invalid to email)
The message <[email hidden]> from Gordon H <[email hidden]> contains these words:
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Am I the only one here who has never had a tick attach itself?
I am not entirely sure but I don't ever remember being ticked, but then I don't go around half naked and rarely stop long enough for a tick to catch up. :-)
-- Roger Chapman Nearest Marilyn still to be visited - Great Orme. 89 miles as the crow flies, considerably more as the walker drives.
In message <[email hidden]>, Roger <[email hidden]> writes
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I am not entirely sure but I don't ever remember being ticked, but then I don't go around half naked and rarely stop long enough for a tick to catch up. :-)
I've never had one either.
I always wear long trousers for walking. Shorts are for swimming!
The dog's had a few ticks in her time, always from Scotland, I don't remember her getting them from anywhere else.
Regards, -- Neil Pugh http://www.blacknail.org.uk/ The online organ of the Black Nail Fellwalking and Climbing Club
In message <[email hidden]>, Roger <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
I am not entirely sure but I don't ever remember being ticked, but then I don't go around half naked and rarely stop long enough for a tick to catch up. :-)
I've never had one either.
I always wear long trousers for walking. Shorts are for swimming!
The dog's had a few ticks in her time, always from Scotland, I don't remember her getting them from anywhere else.
The Lass got a tick at the side of Grasmere. Longish nails are quite good, apparently. She is capable of doing _minor_ operations and knows about the diseases and symptoms from tick - quite useful to have around on the fells.
As for shorts - no way could I wear trousers for walking if the temperature (or equivalent) is over 10C, as my thighs overheat a lot. -- Peter. You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion? It's not rocket science, you know.
This may seem a silly question (erm ....no questions are silly actually) But does it matter which way to twist the O'tom clockwise or anti-clockwise?
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Jhimmy
For direction of rotation to be relevant, the hypostome of the tick would need to be 'threaded'. The microscope images of the hypostome I've seen suggest it's very symmetrical, so any tales of direction of rotation being important are old wives tales. I think the rotation is required to use the barbs to cut a clean hole in the skin so that they have nothing to grip on the way out.
In message <[email hidden]>, Roger <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
I am not entirely sure but I don't ever remember being ticked, but then I don't go around half naked and rarely stop long enough for a tick to catch up. :-)
I've never had one either.
I always wear long trousers for walking. Shorts are for swimming!
The dog's had a few ticks in her time, always from Scotland, I don't remember her getting them from anywhere else.
The Lass got a tick at the side of Grasmere. Longish nails are quite good, apparently. She is capable of doing _minor_ operations and knows about the diseases and symptoms from tick - quite useful to have around on the fells.
As for shorts - no way could I wear trousers for walking if the temperature (or equivalent) is over 10C, as my thighs overheat a lot.
I got one a few weeks ago ... AND I was wearing long trousers for all the reasons above!!!
On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 10:03:19 +0100, Neil Pugh <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
I've never had one either.
I always wear long trousers for walking. Shorts are for swimming!
The dog's had a few ticks in her time, always from Scotland, I don't remember her getting them from anywhere else.
They've become very common in the North York Moors as well.
I've had many of the things, both there and elsewhere, and unrelated to whether I'm wearing shorts or long trousers. You're probably more likely to get bitten if you walk away from the main paths, and so are more likely to brush against the vegetation.
In message <[email hidden]>, Jhimmy <[email hidden]> writes
Quoted message said:
This may seem a silly question (erm ....no questions are silly actually) But does it matter which way to twist the O'tom clockwise or anti-clockwise?
Not silly at all - the recommendation is that you make a straight steady vertical lift - NOT a twist.
That's this month's recommendation anyway, opinions seem to change regularly!
As for tick removal tools, the best I've found is the fine-ended tweezers you get in a Swiss army knife. The so-called tick-removal gadgets you can buy are in the main pretty useless, they're too fat and you can't get a proper grip. At a guess, they're designed in the US, Australia, or somewhere else with different sized ticks from ours!
As for tick removal tools, the best I've found is the fine-ended tweezers you get in a Swiss army knife.
Yes. I have a Swiss army card and the tweezers curve in at the end, so gripping the tick at skin level. <aside> I tend to refer to tweezers as twoceps (cf forceps) and a previous gf used the term when she was doing an op. and that A&E dept. then used it generally. Who needs scientific term?</aside>. -- Peter. You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion? It's not rocket science, you know.
