Wildlife shooting and ticks (Page 2): Our local conservation district sells "tick tubes". They're weather-resistant tubes containing cotton treated with permethrin. Mice use the cotton...

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Our local conservation district sells "tick tubes". They're weather-resistant tubes containing cotton treated with permethrin. Mice use the cotton in their nests, and the permethrin kills the deer ticks without harming the mice. (The deer ticks spend part of their life cycle on the mice).

Sounds like something you could make yourself fairly easily.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

You could always collect ticks and switch to macro photography...

murphle Loc: Wisconsin

n3eg wrote:

You could always collect ticks and switch to macro photography...

Oh that's so disgusting... I do belong to the macro forum and have mostly everything I need to do it 😜

murphle Loc: Wisconsin

DirtFarmer wrote:

Our local conservation district sells "tick tubes". They're weather-resistant tubes containing cotton treated with permethrin. Mice use the cotton in their nests, and the permethrin kills the deer ticks without harming the mice. (The deer ticks spend part of their life cycle on the mice).

Sounds like something you could make yourself fairly easily.

Very interesting

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

Part of my business is controlling ticks, mostly on the perimeter of lawns. All of the above suggestions are good. Tick tubes will not protect you from picking up ticks in the wild, where most wildlife photographers might go.. They're designed to help control tick population build-up in single locations i.e. edge of residential and commercial properties.

If you're consistently wandering through the wild, the best suggestion is long sleeved shirts and pants, with cuffs tucked into boots, and permethrin or deet on clothing. If you wear light colored clothing, the ticks will be easier to spot. This is especially important for the nymph stage of the black legged (deer) tick, which is the carrier of Lyme disease. As already mentioned, the nymph (juvenile) stage of these ticks are about the size if a period in a sentence. They will be most active in the spring and early summer during wet conditions.

Ticks hate drought. Their flat, hard bodies dry out quickly. Consequently, they'll head into the leaf litter/upper soil during the hottest, driest periods. So be aware that the riskiest season will be in the spring during moist periods.

If you're consistently shooting from one location, such as in your back yard, there are several treatment options available to spray to control. The good thing about ticks is that they are not mobile. They're hitchhikers. They need to have something transport them in, such as rodents, deer, etc. If there's a significant population build-up in any one area, spraying can drastically reduce it for quite a while. This is where the tick tubes can be part of the solution.

Be aware that winter is no guarantee of freedom from the threat. The overwintering adults will emerge on a warm day. Found one on my dog after a walk up here in sunny new Hampshire just a week ago.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

RSPB wrote:

Your local sporting goods store will probably carry a permethirin based insecticide product that is sprayed on the outside of your clothing and will repel ticks. It has worked very well for me. It lasts through several washings.

Permethin in not an insect repellent but is an actual insecticide. It will kill the little critters.

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

What do I do...I got Lyme's Disease. Lot of fun! Spray, baby, spray!!!

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Just remember DEET melts plastic

DoyleY Loc: Worland, Wyoming

RSPB wrote:

Your local sporting goods store will probably carry a permethirin based insecticide product that is sprayed on the outside of your clothing and will repel ticks. It has worked very well for me. It lasts through several washings.

Wear lace up boots and lace your pants leg up in your boot. Wear a long sleeve shirt and tuck it in your pants. Ticks need an acces and this will help.

DoyleY Loc: Worland, Wyoming

Sorry I don't know what happened on this post, I didn't mean to quote the other reply.

alf85 Loc: Northumberland, UK.

murphle wrote:

So I see a lot of bird photography and wildlife, nature in general. How do photogs deal with ticks? In Wisconsin, Lyme disease is on the rise and the ticks are plentiful. It's disgusting.

And you think we have problems.

Wenonah Loc: Winona, MN

mborn wrote:

also use a non DEET bug spray

Why do you suggest a non DEET spray?

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

Connecticut is home to Lyme Disease. When I go out I use Deep Woods Off on my clothes and skin (I'm usually out in the summer, in shorts). When I get home I bathe (because I can't stand the smell of the stuff indoors!) and that gives me a chance to check for the tick that got past the Off, so far none of them have.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

During the almost 12 years I lived in East Texas I learned to love the one aspect of the "fire ants" invasion. They have practically eliminated ticks from the environment...(as well as a number of species of ground-and-low nesting birds, reptiles, and mammals...and other arthropods).

Let's just keep pretending that climate change is inevitable and that we cannot affect it and the fire ants will continue spreading northward (as they are doing as we speak...) and ticks may become a biological historical side-note!

Patience is a virtue !

Dave

DK Loc: SD

I read somewhere several years ago that DEET will damage camera bodies if you have it on your hands and handle the camera. Don't really remember the details (senior citizen brain), but it is something to think about.