Tick-Talk

…it’s that time of year again…that time of year when I hear that familiar spring statement made over and over:

“The ticks are sure thick this year!”

…this is Nebraska – yes, we have ticks…but this is also the 21st Century and we have great, proven methods to get ticks to pretty much avoid you…

…let’s first dispel the myth that ticks drop from trees to land on the heads of the unexpecting…can you imagine the mathematical equation a tick would have to complete to successfully land on a moving critter?…it would include windage, target speed, target direction as well as the tick’s own terminal velocity…ticks just don’t have the ability to make such a calculation, or even have the appendages required to hold the calculator…so they just crawl up as high as they can on ground vegetation and wait, with front legs held at ready, for a warm-blooded organism to ‘brush‘ past that they can grab a hold of…

…one of the first things I do this time each year is to pick out my “outdoor clothes” …science has found that ticks do show a preference for dark colors – so my “outdoor clothes” are light colored…then I treat my clothes with a spray that contains the active ingredient of Permethrin (trade name Permanone)…this is an insecticide that is sprayed on gear and clothes - not on skin…once dried – which takes a few hours – the Permethrin has bonded with the fabric and the tick repellency will last for several weeks – even when washed…from my experience, this stuff really works…

…finally, whenever I venture forth on my outdoor adventures, wearing my tick-proofed clothing, I take one more precaution – I get my wife to go along…she is much sweeter than I and the ticks prefer her signficantly more than they do me…

hershy