MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
...well, ticks, I guess...?
Have decided to get a tick twister, after my marathon with thread yesterday. Are they all much of a muchness, or do I need to look for certain features?
Any recommendations welcome...
Lifesystems credit card gets a +1 from me.
Tom O Twister.. works very well. Removed loads so far 🙁
If your totally stuck, wind cotton thread around the biting parts of the tick and then pull upwards.
Amazing creatures though.
Always used one like this on the dog, worked well.
Tom O Twister
+1, you get a small one and a large one so all bases covered.
You'll struggle with thread on the larva and nymph stages, they're just too small. The Twister is quite good but I find a pair of fine tweezers best.
tom o twister for most of them and resorting to tweezers for the tiddlers.
Smidge for minimising them in the first place.
Thanks for all the replies and help.
Should maybe have pointed out that this is for people, not pets - is there any difference?
No difference, they're the same ticks
On the farm we always twisted/pulled them off with our nails but these days I've one of those credit card sized ones that's in my minimal FAK. Not had to use it yet.
As always, prevention is better than cure: try not to sit on grass; wear long clothing especially on legs; use Smidge.
this is for people, not pets – is there any difference?
Pets find it hard to use the tools 😉
Yeah, as the posters above have pointed out, it's better not to get them. I don't recall ever picking up any when I've used repellent, even riding in shorts where it's a bit overgrown. Otherwise it used to be at least a couple per 2-3 hour ride in the Quantocks.
we get a lot in our garden (borders the woods)
I've made my own acaricide - citronella oil, mixed with a cheap moisturiser. Lathered on. Stops them coming near you. If you're really going for it, add some cedar oil (link for study), or rose geranium
they do work. You might smell a bit funny...
the other thing - for my gardening clothes - is to get some 10% permethrin (cheaper from america, but amazon.fr sell some pre-made sprays). Dilute it, soak the clothes for an hour or so, and then drip dry. Clothes then have the ability to kill anything that does try and get on, which stops the crawling up the shorts malarky (and you can use the remaining liquid as a spray). It lasts for a few washes, and doesn't degrade in sunlight.
The natural equivalent (pyrethrum) breaks down in UV light...so won't last, but you could wash in a mixture of it after a ride. Perfectly safe for humans.
Daily we have to pull 2-3 off each of the dogs as we're walking in woodland / knee-high grass. You'll need 2 sizes of 'twister' for the 'bloaters' and a small one for where they're barely visible. Tried tweezers etc but they're far more fiddly / more chance of pulling the body off / infections etc. A self-adhesive clothes lint roller is particularly good for catching walkers and holding our daily 'catch'. Seems particularly bad this year.