Ticks are out.

[jrichard]

It looks like NH is only a "medium" risk zone, according to this map:

http://www.aldf.com/RiskMap/newhampshire/newhampshire.shtml

However, ticks seem to be everywhere:

http://www.aldf.com/faq.shtml

Deer ticks generally wait for a passing host under leaf litter or on plant stems, leaf tips and blades of grass within three feet of the ground. They can be found in any kind of vegetation, including well-kept lawns and gardens. However, they are most likely to be in moist, wooded areas, in overgrown fields or dense underbrush, around rock walls, and especially along the edge of lawns and open areas.

This agrees with my experience. I've often found ticks in my shoes (from the leaf litter, I suppose). I definitely agree that ticks seem more prevalent in tall grass. Just biking by the edges of a hay field is enough to pick up a few.

Central and southern NH: Haven't encountered a tick so far in 2007, knock on wood.

 

[sierra]

My dog has lyme and it sucks. When I moved hear from CO, I was not ready, my dog never got a tick in 4 yrs out west, as soon as we got here she got covered. I did put her on front line but it was to late. She has so far been through 2 bouts of antibiotics ( 21 days each time) and seems to be doing great now, but you never know when a relapse will occur. Do not take chances with your dogs, front line almost all year. My dog walked into my room one day with one foot raised (lame) I consider myself tough, but seeing my dog like that and the look on her face almost crushed me, mans best friend, you better believe it.

 

[Dugan]

She has so far been through 2 bouts of antibiotics ( 21 days each time)

Be careful to read the side effects. Doxycycline (sp?) is the usual, and makes the skin especially sensitive to sunlight. After massive guilt trips from burning Dugan 3.8-legs muzzle, I made sure to apply gobs of sunblock on subsequent walks.

 

[F-Face]

as a kid who grew up in a rural mass. town, i never got ticks. they were considered "rare" in the 1970s and early 1980s. Now, EVERYWHERE.

Never have had to deal with them in the mtns, maybe that time is changing.

 

[Dugan]

as a kid who grew up in a rural mass. town, i never got ticks.

Me too. In years of being outside and mostly in the woods daily, I remember getting only one throughout my childhood. Neither can I call finding them on the cats or dog with any kind of frequency. Yesterday, while hiking in CT, 4. This morning dog walking, 2 + 5 on the dog. None yet from tonight's dog walk.

 

[SilentCal]

Dugan, One the way home I noticed one. Granted with the condition of that last section, it should come as no surprise.

 

[jrichard]

as a kid who grew up in a rural mass. town, i never got ticks. they were considered "rare" in the 1970s and early 1980s. Now, EVERYWHERE.

My experience too...

K.R. Nilsen of the Cohos trail indicated that ticks came up the Rt 93 corridor on pets, along with their owners. He also said that the warming seasons has allowed ticks to live better in the New England climate.

Unfortunately, I seem to have deleted the email, so perhaps someone else can verify.

 

[audrey]

Genie has also contracted Lyme disease, luckily no serious side effects. The vet mentioned that she has loads of cases in the Lexington/Bedford area. No ticks have come home from local walks with us yet this year...

I don't know if the Frontline Plus (or similar product) is 100% effective, but I can't fathom why it wasn't recommended from the beginning. We had to ask for it.

 

[rocket21]

We had a great lab/retriever mix who was in perfect shape at age 12...we moved to an area that had a meadow/marsh and she picked up lyme disease...was dead in a year (took the vet a few months to diagnose it as lyme disease, I think it was too late when treatments started). Next dog (smaller) gets ticks every day during the spring/summer/fall.

 

[Becca]

no dogs are not immune, mine got lymes disease

she was only 4 mo's old at the time. She became completely paralyzed in the back half. After a aggressive 6 week treatment of antibiotics, she made a recovery. She still has an odd gait to her. Like humans, they can have lasting affects.

 

[jrichard]

records?

While hiking in the Mount Shaw area, our party of six picked up ticks, with a count well into the double digits. This is a record for me. One hiker alone had 12 of the bugs crawling on him. All of the hikers stayed on the trail as much as possible. All were treated with DEET and/or Picaridin. This is on an existing trail, not bushwhacking. We didn't have a dog. (The good news is that the mosquitos weren't bad.)

Has anyone else seen more ticks than usual this spring/early summer?

 

[rocket21]

While hiking in the Mount Shaw area, our party of six picked up ticks, with a count well into the double digits. This is a record for me. One hiker alone had 12 of the bugs crawling on him. All of the hikers stayed on the trail as much as possible. All were treated with DEET and/or Picaridin. This is on an existing trail, not bushwhacking. We didn't have a dog. (The good news is that the mosquitos weren't bad.)

Has anyone else seen more ticks than usual this spring/early summer?

I assume you mean Mt. Shaw in the Ossipees? I've heard this from many people I know who've poked around in that range (esp. on the other side where the old ski area was) that it's flooded with ticks. In fact, when I hiked there in early May, I found one on me for the first time in my life...snow was still on the ground!

 

[chinooktrail]

I have heard from a lot of people this year that ticks are really bad. BUT, you seem to hear that every year...

My brother found one on him over the weekend that had dug in. He got it out and kept it, he kept telling me it was tiny, still I hope for him it was a wood tick and not a deer tick. The spot where the tick was looks awful, and he is going to have it checked and bring the tick with him to be checked out to see which type it is.

 

[SkierSteve]

Lyme Disease Info

For anyone who is interested. The current edition of Yankee Magazine has what I consider to be the best article yet on Lyme disease. There is still a great deal of disaggreement in the MD community on how to treat this disease.

What was really interesting in this article, is the growing suspicion that Lyme originated at the Plum Island Biological Warfare Lab on the eastern tip of Long Island. Obviously, this is a completely un-proven idea, but it certainly got my attention.

 

[marty]

While hiking in the Mount Shaw area, our party of six picked up ticks, with a count well into the double digits.

JRichard, were these the larger dog ticks or the tiny (black) deer ticks? Just curious.

thanks,
Marty

 

[hikerfast]

i went for a run in the woods on trails and dirt roads and came back with 2 ticks.

 

[Paradox]

For the past two months I've pulled at least a tick a week off Chips and Zippy. They are treated with Advantix. We live in Holderness, NH.

 

[peakn]

Similar experience

While hiking in the Mount Shaw area, our party of six picked up ticks, with a count well into the double digits

Had the same experience in that area Shaw, Roberts, Faraway last year. Me, my pack and car were infested. Found them everywhere for a couple of days. Haven't been there this year, and I haven't run in to any in the Waterville Valley area (live there) so far this year.

 

[jrichard]

JRichard, were these the larger dog ticks or the tiny (black) deer ticks? Just curious.

thanks,
Marty

These were all dog/wood ticks. Every last one. That's kinda unusual too.

We've had a couple dog and deer tick bites this year, but that only makes it a "normal" 21st century NH spring.

These things are migrating up from the southern US, right? I wonder if they have natural predators there that just haven't made it up yet?

 

[jrichard]

Had the same experience in that area Shaw, Roberts, Faraway last year. Me, my pack and car were infested. Found them everywhere for a couple of days.

That describes it pretty well. The trip home consisted of people picking ticks off their legs, clothes, packs, etc... smushing them between their thumbnails and tossing them out the window. (Hey, I found another one!)