Ticks, a serious problem.
Comments
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Helpful ID info. I copied the photo from here:
What Do Ticks Look Like? | Tick Identification Guide (domyown.com)
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Here's another:
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@JennyT Upstate South Carolina we too moved to an area, where ticks thrive. I reckon I’ve been bitten over 20 times. Some so small that it’s hard to tell but once you get bit, you certainly know the feeling & they pack a punch, swelling, itchy etc. In Australia you can buy work clothes impregnated with pyrethrum, shirts & overalls etc & they’re good for about 100 washes!
I refuse to use personal insect repellent. I make a general tincture spray with some herbs & EO’s ( can’t remember the recipe, I’m away from home atm, happy to get that to you when I get home. I spray around the bottom of jeans & sleeves to deter them. We do have a dog & cat & unfortunately I do have to treat them with a chemical product to keep them safe, Nexguard for the dog & Bravecto for the cat. You just have to be super vigilant & removing the ticks, well that’s another conversation. Happy to discuss when I get home & can give you some correct recipes & product info.
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Good poster of ticks. Fortunately, while I have had hitch hikers, I don't think I've ever been bit. Always seem to catch them in a check before they bite.
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@Linda Bittle Thanks so much for the posters of what the kinds of ticks look like. This will help out so much.☺️
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Definitely @JodieDownUnder. When you get we can pm. Thanks.😊
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@SuperC @JennyT Upstate South Carolina It is supposed to.
We have a mineral salt block for our cows. The garlic content is supposed to keep the ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies and and other biting insects at bay.
We've had next to no ticks here for the past 2 years. We've had barely any this year so far as well. The main season for them is over once the saskatoon berries ripen. That's a great time for more than one reason!
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I think the rain has deterred the ticks here this year. Haven't heard of any incidents. I was picking with a group yesterday in an area that is usually heavily infested with ticks and none of us found any on us afterwards.
And the saskatoons will be ripe in a month so that's the end of that as @LaurieLovesLearning has mentioned.
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@torey I find that fascinating. You have less ticks when its wet, we had less ticks when it's been super dry. Although, we were an anomaly last year, so it sounds. Where there is sand & oak trees, they had high amounts. We have neither.
Generally, the wetter it is the less ticks. That's why we were baffled. But it's not like we were complaining!
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I'm going to quote @judsoncarroll4's new book on Medicinal Shrubs and Vines on this one. I'm sure he would have posted this if he hadn't be so busy getting the book ready for release.
This is part of his entry on Beautyberry.
"This plant has been used as an insect repellent in Louisiana and Mississippi for generations. "In 2006, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Products Utilisation Research Unit in Oxford, MS, found that extracts from beautyberry leaves could match DEET for repelling mosquitoes. The next year, experiments showed that the active ingredients from the leaves (callicarpenal and intermedeol) provided 100-percent repellency of black-legged ticks for three hours. In 2008, the four-person research team, headed by chemist Charles Cantrell in Mississippi and entomologist Jerome Klun in Maryland, published research that added fire ants to the list of pests repelled by essential oil distilled from beautyberry leaves."
"Natural Insect Repellent: Beautyberry Banishes Bad Biting Bugs by Barbara Pleasant, Mother Earth News."
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Yes, yes! Stull though, guineas are the better overall solution.
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So cool! @torey @judsoncarroll4
I obtained a bunch of seeds for beautyberry and plan to plant it all over to "encourage" the deer to nibble on bushes such as those instead of on what I want to keep for myself and the fam.
We most definitely will be getting guineas now. It's just a matter of time.😉
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Just be sure to park your vehicles in the exact same place every time - not an inch to the right or left, or the guineas will scream at you for hours! They are great watchdogs and pest killers. They will protect your chickens, too. And occasionally, one will see its reflection in a hubcap or glass door and peck at it until it knocks itself out!
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That is too funny @judsoncarroll4!😄
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@SuperC @JennyT Upstate South Carolina I believed that garlic deters ticks until, last year I got Lime disease. I took antibiotics for 10 days. No side effects. I continue eating garlic and spend lots of time outside. I think I still believe that garlic deters ticks as this year there were no tick attempts to suck my blood.
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@jowitt.europe I'm sorry to hear that you had it however relieved beyond words that you have no side effects.
My brother-in-law had it and was having issues for a time, I've not heard how he is doing recently. And I have a dear friend of the family who has been dealing with it for the last 15 years.😕
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@JennyT Upstate South Carolina I've heard that putting a mirror in the coop can keep them entertained as they live to admire themselves. We tried it, but the mirror broke before too long for some reason. It was an older mirror.
The only reliable way they will protect other birds is by sending out an alarm so everyone can go hide. I have heard of a guinea attacking a hawk & living, but that is not the norm. Foxes love eating them as do owls. I have no idea how the guineas are with snakes.
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@LaurieLovesLearning I have heard of the thing with the mirror. I believe my daughter even tried that once with our chickens and had a lot of fun with them.😄
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It’s an insecticide with a low toxicity; “most of the homemade "natural" insecticides (such as ones made from pyrethrum, yarrow, mints or some of the essential oil recipes) need to be applied much more frequently than commercial products containing DEET or permethrin.” However, it’s also a flower, in my opinion...It’s a genetic hybrid due to its many petals as ancient flowers made a single layer of petals. It’s an ancient flower that has been crossed with a Chrysanthemum.
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In the house, I found a pinhead-sized tick. On the second removal pinch, it all was successfully removed from the skin, and then flushed! Swoosh!
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Hi @JennyT Upstate South Carolina I hope that you have been having some success with managing the ticks on your property. I would like to share a resource I created for people just like you. On Half-Acre Homestead, my mission is to help others, especially those on the path towards self-sufficiency. I have just published a How To Guide on How To Prevent Tick Bites.
I moved into a heavily infested area a few years ago. Since I implemented my tips, I have been successful at avoiding bites. I hope that my tips are helpful to you. To access the guide, click on the link below. Scroll down to How To Guide 6 and click on the link. The guide contains my best tips, based on my research and personal experience. I also provide a link to the best online resource I found in my research.
If you would like to let me know how it goes or you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at [email protected] Here is the link: https://www.halfacrehomestead.ca/how-to-guides
Wishing you the best!
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We've managed to not get bitten so far. And thank you @peterscolette I appreciate you sharing that resource. I look forward to reading it.😊
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I am excited about learning about beautyberry! I made some tincture last year and I’m going to try using it to repel ticks as well as ants and other nasties around the garden.
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I'm hoping the seeds I collected will grow for me. I'm hoping to persued the deer away from around my house and further away from my gardens.🤞
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I keep the deer back by getting hair from a local salon and sprinkling it around the garden. It works fairly well for me.
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I tried that. It worked for a bit. And my friend who I was able to get the hair from the salon, just had a baby so it will be a while before I can get any more.☹️
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I don’t have a buddy there. Apparently they are used to the request here because the one I asked turned and asked the others if they were saving for anyone that day. They just filled up a garbage bag and I picked it up the next day.
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We must have deer with no sense of smell. 🤣
I have tried a variety of methods to keep them out. Human hair, human urine and some very expensive cougar urine from the local hunting store. I've tried mothballs and Irish Spring soap bars.
Nothing works. Even when I catch them and run out banging pots and pans, they look at me as if I am crazy. We tried firing the bear banger but even that doesn't scare them much. They know when hunting season is and if its not hunting season they don't seem to be bothered by the sound. I'm sure I will find a copy of the hunting regulations and a calendar hanging on a tree on a deer trail someday. 😂
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That's too funny. @torey. 😆 The deer are the same way here. There's this doe around here that just wants to make my life miserable.😡 She's eating everything around the house that I've got in pots ready to put out. And it's sooo frustrating.😤
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@JennyT Upstate South Carolina Maybe hang a butcher's diagram of cuts near your plants and she'll get the hint. Eat my food and we'll eat you.😂
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