Tick borne disease

(David Walker) #21

Sometime in the early 1970s my mother got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. She was quit ill. From the pictures she send me ( I was in Hawaii) she looked like she had been beaten from head to toe with a meat tenderizing hammer, and she said the doctors told her that her internal organs would have also been covered with the same rash. I had only heard of RMSF about a year earlier when I was at Bainbridge Naval Training Center in Maryland.

Treating your clothing with Permethrin is said to be quite effective against ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes .
You can also spray it on your hammock, tents, bug screening, etc. I have read it is also highly recommended to retreat often your shoes and socks as that is frequently the route ticks take to climb aboard you. Permethrin can be applied by spraying it on or by a soaking method.

According to this post on Section Hiker, self Permethrin treatment last through about 6 weeks of weekly washing of your clothing.

http://sectionhiker.com/treating-your-clothes-with-permethrin/

A couple of days ago I watched a YouTube video of someone going over their gear list for a planned through hike of the Appalachian Trail. They mentioned that they sent their clothing off to be treated with Permethrin. I had not heard of this before, and they did not say where they send their clothing to be treated.

A google search turned up Insect Shield in Greensboro, N.C. The claim on their website is that they have a process that more permanently bonds the Permethrin to your clothing. The research was undertaken at the request of the US Military, and the treatment will remain effective through 70 washings of the clothing. That is approximately 1.5 years.

http://www.insectshield.com/ourTechnology/

http://www.insectshield.com/IS_Your_Own_Clothes/default.aspx

Iā€™ve no experience with them. Their prices seem cost effective. $8.33 for 3 - 19 items. Though it is unclear to me if that is the price for 19 items or the price for each item. But probably worth the cost if the treatment is as durable as their claim. Worth checking out, imo.

(Gressak) #22

I thought I heard someone saying their cat had a bad reaction to clothes treated with permethrin .

I donā€™t have a catā€¦so I guess itā€™s safe for me to snorkel through a tub of the stuff.

Thanks David for another thorough post.

I may actually purchase and use some this season.

Tom, where is there info on it being dangerous to fish? Is there a Data sheet of do and donts.

(Tom Davis) #23

About half way down, under "Ecological Effects"
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/metiram-propoxur/permethrin-ext.html

(Gressak) #24

Thanks.

Seems like bees can be affected too. Outdoor applications can be active for some time.

For catsā€¦the treatment needs to completely dry which can take daysā€¦someone noted.

I have been using an herbal repellent the last couple of years. Not sure on how effective it is though. Sort of hard to prove if itā€™s working or notā€¦but have not found any ticks.

How long have you been treating your clothes?

(David Walker) #25

Oh, quite right. Sometimes you just have to limit how much of that sort of thing you read or you end up being afraid to go outside.

Daniel Riskin ( who host the Monsters Inside of Me show on Animal Planet) wrote a book I can only read a few chapters at a time, ā€œMother Nature is Trying to Kill You.ā€ And the reality is you probably have a higher risk of being injured in an auto accident during the drive to the trail head.

Another good book is Amy Stewartā€™s , " Wicked Bugs - the louse that conquered Napoleonā€™s army & other diabolical insects".

Some parasites have truly bizarre life cycles. My copy isnā€™t at home, itā€™s four hours away at the family vacation house, so I canā€™t look it up right now. But there is a certain parasite worm you can only be infected with after being bitten by a mosquito that had picked up the eggs from biting something else, and the eggs had time reach larvae stage in the digestive system of the mosquito. You would suffer no harm from the mosquito bite and only being injected with the eggs, as they will not mature in the human blood system. And count your blessings your not a horny spider. Some species only get one chance for procreation, they get eaten by the female, unless they are very very lucky to make their escape after the act. Yikes. :scream:

(Peder) #26

Thatā€™s definitely a fascinating book. I would encourage anyone to read it if you havenā€™t. If you have any fear of any form of insects, this book will not help you. Fascinating none the less.

(David Walker) #27

Radiolab and Amy Pearll take a humorous look at Alpha Gal allergy.

https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/677542

I have to admit one of the most surprising things I heard in the podcast was that people in Brooklyn eat Ramps, who knew.

(Peder) #28

Haha, yes they do. Theyā€™re seen as a specialty food and pay way too much money for them. I can drive a few miles and pick them until Iā€™m blue in the face.

(Christopher Webster) #29

Ramps will be coming up soon! Fresh fried trout and fried potatoes with rampsā€¦OH YEAH!

(Peder) #30

Lucky you. Iā€™ve got a few months to wait for that. We just got 14" (35cm) of new snow in the past 24 hours and more is on the way. Iā€™ll be lucky to see them by the end of April.

(David Walker) #31

Yeah, I saw your snow report on the news. It wonā€™t be long before I begin seeing people selling ramps along the roadside. I donā€™t care much for them myself, though I must admit it has been many years since I last tried them.
My aunt Eva Mae made my uncle Fred sleep in the spare bedroom when he ate ramps in the spring. You are what you eat.

(Peder) #32

That got a good laugh.

(Christopher Webster) #33

Sorry man, I tilled my garden on Sunday be planting potatoes and lettuce bed next week. :smiley:

IMG_20170212_101658700_HDR.jpg3419Ɨ1923 2.91 MB

(Peder) #34

Wow, so jealous. We just got the last of our seed order in the mail today, but likely have two months until we can plant anything outside. Although, weā€™ll start tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers around St Patrickā€™s day indoors.

Weā€™ve gotten 20" (50cm) of snow in the past three days. Iā€™ll be lucky to see bare ground by the time fishing season opens in April.

Iā€™ll be very excited if we get lettuce, spinach, and peas in by the end of April this year. The amount of snow weā€™ve gotten this year reminds me of when I was a kid, but the weird fluctuations in temperature have been unlike anything Iā€™ve seen before.

(Chris Lynch) #35

I will be honest I had no clue what ramps were until this thread. I just looked them up and went ā€œoh those wild onions that smell so good but iā€™ve never tried eating them!ā€ā€¦
I will try and change that this year. Iā€™ve prob got some popping up around here already, our weather has been super odd this winter.

(Christopher Webster) #36

Believe Alabama is bit far south for ramps. They are actually wild leaks and if you think they smell good you are in the minority. LOL I love them but in the words of Karl Childers they do smell a mite loud. Hahaha

(Chris Lynch) #37

Well I know growing up in Texas I saw and smelled some kind of wild onion every spring and thought they smelled wonderful.
I could probably eat a whole clove of raw garlic though, I love that stuff.

(David Walker) #38

Yeah, a lot of people hold a different view of their aroma. Which is why uncle Fred had to sleep in the spare bedroom.

Itā€™s quite amazing what turns up from a Google search for - ramps food . :laughing:

This website goes right to the majority opinion of their odor and popularity. :grin:

http://www.kingofstink.com/WV.html

But who knows maybe ramps will also discourage bug bites. Whether you eat them or rub your self down with them you might be both bite free and invited to remain down wind from everyone one else while fishing or camping. :wink:

http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/8-foods-to-defend-against-bug-bites/