Reminder to start using insect repellent

[Mike C]

in all my years of dg, hiking, camping, kayaking, bicycle touring cross country.....I've only gotten one tick.

of course it was at boettler park before the re-design, when it still had 10' wide mowed unfairways and 5' high grass on either side.

I make do without bug spray. I make a point to avoid playing courses that hold water within 48 hours of rain during the warmer months though.

 

[DavidSauls]

I've been living on wooded course for almost 20 years. Last month I got my 2nd bite in those years. In the early days I'd pull a lot of crawling ticks off me, but in recent years that's been rare. And that's not just playing golf, but literally being among them every day.

In a month or so, the chiggers will hatch, and starting the day after they eat me up, I'll be spraying my shoes and legs -- with the side benefit of taking care of most of the ticks as well.

 

[biscoe]

You guys must taste like sh*t.

I get bit all the **** time if I am not wearing treated clothing including (ugh) long pants. I would guess I have had close to a thousand tick bites over the years.

 

[DavidSauls]

Maybe our 'possums are better than your 'possums.

 

[DavidSauls]

We have very few mosquitos, either, which I'm reminded of whenever I go to any other course in the area, in season. I'm not sure why, but we have lots of bats and about a hundred thousand frogs, so I give them credit. But I don't have to understand it, to appreciate it.

Maybe the ticks are the same, somehow. When we bought our property it had been clear-cut, with lots of rotting debris and tall weeds, and the ticks were worse. Now it's re-growing woods and grassy areas, and they're not as common.

 

[biscoe]

Maybe our 'possums are better than your 'possums.

Could be. I am in the woods a lot of different places though.

 

[DavidSauls]

Who knows what makes ticks tick.

 

[uncle pennybags]

Don't you mean makes ticks tock?

 

[ChrisWoj]

https://www.consumerreports.org/outdoor-safety/tick-myths-debunked/

This actually alleviates some concern.... I did not know that they had to be attached for in the range of 24+ hours to pass on a disease.

I had always been annoyed by but not frightened by tick bites. I remember waking up at Highbridge Hills in 2006, living in the bunk house before it had any doors, with a tick on my forehead and it was just ho-hum, walk up to the john where there was a mirror, remove it... But in recent years, with the spread of Lyme I've been more paranoid/militant, to where I'm militant in checking for ticks every few holes, and a bit mentally frazzled when one is sunk in.

I was also impacted by a healthy co-worker who passed out and cracked her head on a counter and passed away, and was found to have the Lyme rash under the backside of her armpit - it was assumed that the fall was caused by light-headedness brought on by Lyme Disease. So I'm still gonna be careful, but 24 hour thing dissipates a significant chunk of my worry.

 

[biscoe]

Web MD disagrees... article

Of my roughly 1000 tick bites I have only had one that showed symptoms of infection in any major way- that took around 18 hours.

 

[Countchunkula]

We have very few mosquitos, either, which I'm reminded of whenever I go to any other course in the area, in season. I'm not sure why, but we have lots of bats and about a hundred thousand frogs, so I give them credit. But I don't have to understand it, to appreciate it.

Maybe the ticks are the same, somehow. When we bought our property it had been clear-cut, with lots of rotting debris and tall weeds, and the ticks were worse. Now it's re-growing woods and grassy areas, and they're not as common.

Where I used to live and where I live now are about 10 miles apart in the Chicago suburbs, but the mosquito situation is night and day different. They were terrible at our old place and practically non-existent at our current house. I can think of a few things that might contribute to the difference, but ultimately I'm just happy to spend time outdoors without getting bit up.

 

[wellsbranch250]

I found a small deer tick attached from yesterday's round on a city park course. Time to start the insect repellent regime… I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever several years ago and I am NOT interested in that again.

Friendly reminder that the critters are already on the hunt.

Thank you for posting. I also had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever a couple years ago and I am NOT interested in that again. I just started seeing them active in my area again as well. today I deeted up my pants and shoes before throwing a few in the woods.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

And speaking of ticks, if you're a carry your bag guy and on the fence about purchasing a cart, remember your bag is a big time retriever of ticks. You put it down on the ground to throw and ticks jump on it, then you pick your bag up and sling it over your back.

The cart on the other hand you never place on your body. Not saying that a cart is tick proof, but it will help.

I found out the hard way visiting Texas one year that this trait of bags is also true for fire ants. ..

 

[Sewer bill]

I found out the hard way visiting Texas one year that this trait of bags is also true for fire ants. ..

Fire ants are surprisingly coordinated in their dastardly attacks.

 

[jakebake91]

Skeeters have never really bothered me too much. I think it's something about trying to stick their proboscis thru my leather tough skin they dislike. Idk.

Ticks give me the willies though. Especially after last year. My then 3 year old apparently got bit by one. Never seen a bite, never any signs of redness anywhere that we knew of. One morning, he woke up and couldn't stand up. Said his knee hurt and he fell down whimpering. That little dude is tough as nails, so we knew something was really wrong. We went to the ER, they just figured since we'd been camping and he's a rambunctious little boy, he might have just over worked his knee, nothing to worry about. Following day, he couldn't even lift a sippy cup to his mouth. Another ER trip, then a referral/rush trip to the bigger regional hospital with dedicated pediatric ER to finally ascertain what was going on.*


That was some seriously scary $hit. Be smart about ticks, folks.




Start thread drift....
My local ER doc was a worthless dink when it came to interacting with and diagnosing my son. Basically, nothing is broke, not dying, okay have a nice day. Sent us to another hospital on wild speculation about something that was highly unlikely. However HUGE shout out to the Mayo Clinic facility in Rochester MN. Talk about the best of the best. Those docs were simply incredible. You just feel it from the second you walk in there that you are in amazing hands. The pediatric ER doc we seen was seriously an absolute godsend to some very freaked out parents.
/drift

 

[BogeyNoMore]

My local ER doc was a worthless dink when it came to interacting with and diagnosing my son. Basically, nothing is broke, not dying, okay have a nice day. Sent us to another hospital on wild speculation about something that was highly unlikely. However HUGE shout out to the Mayo Clinic facility in Rochester MN. Talk about the best of the best. Those docs were simply incredible. You just feel it from the second you walk in there that you are in amazing hands. The pediatric ER doc we seen was seriously an absolute godsend to some very freaked out parents.
/drift

So glad your son got the care he needed. :thmbup:
There's no feeling like being the helpless parent of an ill child.

I have a LOT of respect for the medical community, but lets face it: not all docs, hospitals, and medical programs are created equal.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Really like this piece of advice from the Web MD article biscoe linked.

Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors.

This really isn't that hard to do.

Get home from the course, chuck clothes in dryer, take a shower and check your nooks and crannies for the little ba$tards.

Remove clothes from dryer, throw them in the dirty pile and deal with 'em on laundry day.

 

[DavidSauls]

Skeeters have never really bothered me too much. I think it's something about trying to stick their proboscis thru my leather tough skin they dislike. Idk.

Ticks give me the willies though. Especially after last year. My then 3 year old apparently got bit by one. Never seen a bite, never any signs of redness anywhere that we knew of. One morning, he woke up and couldn't stand up. Said his knee hurt and he fell down whimpering. That little dude is tough as nails, so we knew something was really wrong. We went to the ER, they just figured since we'd been camping and he's a rambunctious little boy, he might have just over worked his knee, nothing to worry about. Following day, he couldn't even lift a sippy cup to his mouth. Another ER trip, then a referral/rush trip to the bigger regional hospital with dedicated pediatric ER to finally ascertain what was going on.*


That was some seriously scary $hit. Be smart about ticks, folks.

That story gives me the willies.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Web MD disagrees... article

Of my roughly 1000 tick bites I have only had one that showed symptoms of infection in any major way- that took around 18 hours.

Welp. Back to max paranoia.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Really like this piece of advice from the Web MD article biscoe linked.


This really isn't that hard to do.

Get home from the course, chuck clothes in dryer, take a shower and check your nooks and crannies for the little ba$tards.

Remove clothes from dryer, throw them in the dirty pile and deal with 'em on laundry day.

That's our post-vacation bed-bug ritual here.