Tick Tactics?

Life Pets & Domestic Animals
1

Tick CBW tactics question.

One of the campus “sponsored strays” was fussing around me on the cafe terrace, and I pulled a tick off its neck.

Dropped it on the ground expecting the dog to eat it (as, in my experience, they usually do elsewhere, though I havn’t done this before in Taiwan) and got on with sugaring my coffee. I think I half noticed the dog nosing the tick, but I wasn’t paying attention.

When next I noticed the dog it’d backed off and was salivating copiously ( “frothing at the mouth” would perhaps be a better description) and working its front incisors together in a scissors action, like they do when they’re grooming) while staring at the tick, but it didn’t approach any closer than 6 ft the rest of the time I was there (maybe half an hour), and seemed to be scared of it.

Anybody know if tick species here have defensive toxins? Makes sense but I’ve never heard of it before.

I suppose a sting would be an explanation too, though that seems a rather big adaptation.

I suppose it could also just be that Taiwanese dogs are pussys

I’m afraid I burned the tick (I don’t like them) so the evidence is gone. Some biologist, huh? :blush:

EDIT: I did another search (first one was masked by stuff about toxicity of treatments), and apparently they produce a neurotoxin which can induce systemic paralysis in 24 hours (useful to know), but I didn’t find anything directly comparable to this observed “instant reaction” behaviour.

I wonder if it could have been a hypersensitive immune response?

ENDEDIT

2

don’t pull the tick off. it can separate the ticks “head” being left in the dog and cause an infection. (just an FYI)

3

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.

4

Disagree.

Infection v. fatal paralysis? No contest.

Anyway, like I said, I don’t like ticks

5

wow that is pretty fascinating. I know nothing of anythign you suggest so can’t say, but i am incredibly interested if you do find something. I wonder if it is chemical or if dogs actually know their enemy. I may just be attaching human emotion to my pet as we all do, but i do notice a seemingly sense of relief and love towards me when i pull out ticks. Our dogs don’t get many anymore and i pull them out with the head carefully. +1 for tick hate.

Are there any ticks in Taiwan that carry disease that are worry some to people? back home the bastards carry lyme disease

6

[quote=“Pingdong”]wow that is pretty fascinating. I know nothing of anythign you suggest so can’t say, but i am incredibly interested if you do find something. I wonder if it is chemical or if dogs actually know their enemy. I may just be attaching human emotion to my pet as we all do, but i do notice a seemingly sense of relief and love towards me when i pull out ticks. Our dogs don’t get many anymore and i pull them out with the head carefully. +1 for tick hate.

Are there any ticks in Taiwan that carry disease that are worry some to people? back home the bastards carry lyme disease[/quote]
They carry lyme here too. I just had it from a tick I picked up in Scotland.

7

You brought back Lyme Disease from Scotland?!. That’s extremely bad luck.

I suppose I’d normally have been at similar risk but I was travelling with a Taiwanese woman this time so didn’t get out in the hills much :unamused:

They diagnose it promptly here, or was that a DIY job?

Hope there are no lasting effects.

8

You brought back Lyme Disease from Scotland?!. That’s extremely bad luck.

I suppose I’d normally have been at similar risk but I was travelling with a Taiwanese woman this time so didn’t get out in the hills much :unamused:

They diagnose it promptly here, or was that a DIY job?

Hope there are no lasting effects.[/quote]
I’ve had it before. From gralloching deer on the hill, so I knew what I was seeing when I saw the “bullseye” rash. I went to the doc and said “Lyme” and he looked at it, heard the history of my travels and said “Lyme.” Two weeks of doxycycline and good to go. Felt a bit under the weather for a while, though.

9

You brought back Lyme Disease from Scotland?!. That’s extremely bad luck.

I suppose I’d normally have been at similar risk but I was travelling with a Taiwanese woman this time so didn’t get out in the hills much :unamused:

They diagnose it promptly here, or was that a DIY job?

Hope there are no lasting effects.[/quote]
I’ve had it before. From gralloching deer on the hill, so I knew what I was seeing when I saw the “bullseye” rash. I went to the doc and said “Lyme” and he looked at it, heard the history of my travels and said “Lyme.” Two weeks of doxycycline and good to go. Felt a bit under the weather for a while, though.[/quote]

Good to hear it all went as well as possible. :thumbsup:

10

You brought back Lyme Disease from Scotland?!. That’s extremely bad luck.

I suppose I’d normally have been at similar risk but I was travelling with a Taiwanese woman this time so didn’t get out in the hills much :unamused:

They diagnose it promptly here, or was that a DIY job?

Hope there are no lasting effects.[/quote]
I’ve had it before. From gralloching deer on the hill, so I knew what I was seeing when I saw the “bullseye” rash. I went to the doc and said “Lyme” and he looked at it, heard the history of my travels and said “Lyme.” Two weeks of doxycycline and good to go. Felt a bit under the weather for a while, though.[/quote]

Good to hear it all went as well as possible. :thumbsup:[/quote]
Never thanked you for your support, either, did I? Well, thank you. I was a bit worried, to be honest.

11

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.[/quote]

I have seen it, uncomfortable for people and dogs if it goes septic.
course a bit of brewers yeast in the diet and the ticks wont touch you.
Beer doesn’t count as brewers yeast.

12

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.[/quote]

I have seen it, uncomfortable for people and dogs if it goes septic.
course a bit of brewers yeast in the diet and the ticks wont touch you.
Beer doesn’t count as brewers yeast.[/quote]
Is that a fact or an old wive’s tale? My parents and one of my sisters live in tick-heavy areas and they might be happy to have that bit of advice.

13

I had Lyme’s disease once. No shit, probably the closest I’ve been to death. Went camping in the Transkei (one of South Africa’s less spoiled places) and one morning found a tick on my knob. I removed it, head intact. Two weeks later I was in hospital and remained there for two months. Massive migraines, and I nearly lost an eye. Don’t fuck with that shit.

14

Don’t fuck with that shit on your knob, anyway. However stimulating, that would not be the act of a gentleman.

I got an unusually large, long legged tick on my foot during my first brief visit to Taiwan in 1999, while bivouacing in Taroko Gorge. I’d seen something that looked like a gibbon in the area so I thought there was an especially high chance of human-compatible pathogens (though I think the chance is high enough anyway).

I’d heard/read that pulling them off can inject the gut contents into ones bloodstream, and that the thing to do was to smear them with grease, which suffocates, so I tried it with, IIRC, sunscreen.

After about half an hour the thing was still firmlly attached, (and safe from skin cancer), though it wasn’t getting a tan.

I lost patience and put deet on it, and then I had a dead tick in my foot. I left it in (I think a mistake) and the next day its corpse dropped out of my sock.

Now I think the risk of leaving them in situ is greater than the risk of removal, which I do PDQ when I find them.

I could be wrong.

15

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.[/quote]

I have seen it, uncomfortable for people and dogs if it goes septic.
course a bit of brewers yeast in the diet and the ticks wont touch you.
Beer doesn’t count as brewers yeast.[/quote]
Is that a fact or an old wive’s tale? My parents and one of my sisters live in tick-heavy areas and they might be happy to have that bit of advice.[/quote]

Not a old wife’s tale. It does work. Pet food stores in the states sell a brewers yeast mix (heavily cut) to be added into the dogs food.
try coating the tick in axle grease or a petroleum based jelly. about ten minuets the tick will back out to get air (ticks breath too).
No grease,touch the back end of the tick with a lit cigarette. Be careful if it’s on the knob.

16

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.[/quote]

I have seen it, uncomfortable for people and dogs if it goes septic.
course a bit of brewers yeast in the diet and the ticks wont touch you.
Beer doesn’t count as brewers yeast.[/quote]
Is that a fact or an old wive’s tale? My parents and one of my sisters live in tick-heavy areas and they might be happy to have that bit of advice.[/quote]

Not a old wife’s tale. It does work. Pet food stores in the states sell a brewers yeast mix (heavily cut) to be added into the dogs food.
try coating the tick in axle grease or a petroleum based jelly. about ten minuets the tick will back out to get air (ticks breath too).
No grease,touch the back end of the tick with a lit cigarette. Be careful if it’s on the knob.[/quote]

Yeh, I saw that movie too, only it was leeches. Never tried it on a tick, and don’t intend to.

I don’t smoke, and don’t always have a greased axle to hand (due to the deplorable standards of auto-maintenance here, often complained about in another forum)

When I tried the fag end (if you’re American, that’s NOT another knob reference) trick on a leech, the leech died, and I had a slightly burned arm with a cooked leech stuck in it. Took a long time to heal (the arm, not the leech).

I don’t mind experimenting a bit with leeches. Salt? tabasco sauce? Engine oil ? (Mobil 1 or Agip fully synthetic 0W40 only, naturally) because AFAIK (and strangely in my view) they don’t carry any diseases or toxins.

When I find a tick I pull it off PDQ, the more so now I know about the neurotoxin. On me I might consider Vaseline, but even if it works I’m not keen on the delay, and since I’m unlikely to have any its a moot point.

Dogs are too hairy and active for any of these tick removal tricks to be at all plausible.

17

Can’t verify it, but vitamin B is suppose to keep leaches away. Know it works good on mosquitoes. But don’t know about leaches.
To “burn them off” is not really the right term, but sounds better than to heat them off. (thanks to Hollywood) With a leach or a tick, close heat to make them uncomfortable so they will unattached them self from you and attempt to move away from the heat.

18

[quote=“justreal”]Can’t verify it, but vitamin B is suppose to keep leaches away. Know it works good on mosquitoes. But don’t know about leaches.
To “burn them off” is not really the right term, but sounds better than to heat them off. (thanks to Hollywood) With a leach or a tick, close heat to make them uncomfortable so they will unattached them self from you and attempt to move away from the heat.[/quote]

I get monthly intramuscular 1000 mg injections of methyl-cobalamin (vitamin B12) and I take 2000mg orally per day, when I remember. Those are VERY high, clinical doses, FAR higher than you will get from a dietary supplement.

Mosquitos like my blood just fine. Can’t comment on leeches or ticks because I’m not regularly exposed to them.

Its possible that there’s a protective effect with another of the B vitamins, but it seems to me quite likely there is no protetctive effect.

I apologise for my sustained skepticism. Nothing personal.

EDIT: I found the time to do some Googling. The effect is apparently usually attributed to B1, though B12 is sometimes also mentioned. I didn’t find any source references, but (uncited) mention was made of studies by, among others, the USFDA and the Canadian Dept of Defence.

These studies found no repellent effect.

This isn’t surprising. The British Army issued rather strong (can’t remember the concentration) DEET solution for mosquito threat situations. This was nasty stuff. I found it irritated my skin and, when washed into my eyes by sweat, could blind me temporarily.

Being blind can be considered a tactical limitation. If B1 was an effective alternative or supplement, I’d guess they’d have issued it.

ENDEDIT

19

i have heard gin works well for mosquitoes. something about your skin excreting a certain smell. not sure if its true, but i like the idea either way.

20

I’ve heard that too. But in 40+ years of pulling ticks off dogs and myself I’ve yet to ever see this happen.[/quote]

I have seen it, uncomfortable for people and dogs if it goes septic.
course a bit of brewers yeast in the diet and the ticks wont touch you.
Beer doesn’t count as brewers yeast.[/quote]
Is that a fact or an old wive’s tale? My parents and one of my sisters live in tick-heavy areas and they might be happy to have that bit of advice.[/quote]

Not a old wife’s tale. It does work. Pet food stores in the states sell a brewers yeast mix (heavily cut) to be added into the dogs food.
try coating the tick in axle grease or a petroleum based jelly. about ten minuets the tick will back out to get air (ticks breath too).
No grease,touch the back end of the tick with a lit cigarette. Be careful if it’s on the knob.[/quote]

Quote from http://www.nathnac.org/travel/misc/travellers_mos.htm

“There is no proof (scientific or otherwise) that bath oils, electronic “buzzers”, essential oils, homeopathic remedies, smoking, vitamin tablets, yeast extract (Marmite®) or eating garlic prevents insect bites.” (my italics)

Not sure what that “(scientific or otherwise)” is supposed to mean, but that does rather suggest it is an old wive’s (or perhaps a hippy chick’s) tale.

They recommend removing a tick with fine tweezers, gripping it close to the skin and avoiding squeezing the body (there’s a diagram). Makes sense.