A Little About Pestie Ticks And The Right Kind of Bug Spray To Use @ Backpackingstore.net

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan. 22, 2011 - These pestie ticks are small, very patient and amazing in their approach to locating their host/prey.  Their purpose in life like so many species is to propagate their species.  They don't feed often, but when they do, they can acquire disease agents form one host and pass it to another host at a later feeding.  Their sensory organs are complex and they can determine trace amounts of gases, such as carbon dioxide left by warm-blooded animals and man. They can sense the potential host's presence from long distances and even select their ambush site based upon their ability to identify paths that are well traveled.
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Knowing this adversary is important.  Understanding the disease potentials they threaten us with and having the capability to identify the basic tick group can help you help your doctor diagnose illness that may be tick initiated.

Although the number of tick species is in the hundreds, there are relatively few pestie ticks that interact with mankind and domestic animals causing harm. While most ticks limit their host selection, others are opportunistic feeders and will feed on almost any accessible host. A tick, which feeds on a select host group, will move infective agents within that group. However, when a tick is a non selective feeder, it can transmit disease agents from one host group to another. These non selective ticks pose the largest threat of infection in man.

Pestieticks generally are not born with disease agents but rather acquire them during various feedings.  They then pass the disease on to other animals and mankind during subsequent feedings. When an infection moves from an animal host to a human it is called zoonosise.  Lyme disease, babiosisos, erlichiosious and tularemia are examples of such diseases. http://backpackingstore.net

Ticks have life cycles that involve three distinct life stages of development- larval (infant), nymph (immature) and adult (mature). The pestie ticks known for the greatest quantity of disease infections are the Ixodes group. The group consists of many ticks but the ones of most concern are ixodes scapolarius, ixodes pacificus, ixodes damini, and ixodes ricionoiuse.

Even experts find it difficult to distinguish the ixodes ticks based on physical characteristics alone since a large part of identification relies on the geographical location they inhabit. When the female tick engorges on blood, her body change of both size and color is so significant that she is unrecognizable when compared to her pre-engorgement appearance. Look at the below sequence of a Lone Star tick as she engorges . . . is this hard to believe? In an attempt to simplify identification we are providing photographs showing various stages of the tick during the feeding process. Regardless of the difficulty in identifying specific tick species within a group it is quite easy (with photographs) to identify ticks belonging to the group.

Besides the body types associated to different tick species, each has a distinguishing characteristic called the shield. It is an area just behind the mouth and is the key part of this tick identification method.  The only difference you will note is that the shield pivots forward in relation to the mouth as the tick becomes more and more engorged. By using this system and knowing where the tick specimen originated, you will be able to identify the tick with reasonable certainty.

If the ticks origin is from an area known to have incidence of tick-borne disease and if the specimen is of a species of tick known to carry and transmit that disease, you can consider that the possibility of infection exists.

When Backpacking To avoid exposure to pestie ticks, stay on the trails and avoid grassy, brushy areas. Wear light colored clothing so ticks can be seen. Wear long sleeve shirts and tuck shirts into pants and pant legs into socks. Wear a hat. Do not wear shorts on the trails. Check yourself for ticks or have someone else check for you. Finding and removing a tick early (within 36 hours) is key to the prevention of Lyme disease. If a tick is attached to your skin, grab it with tweezers as close to your skin as possible and pull it straight out. Do not use Vaseline. It will kill the tick and cause more harm. Also do not squeeze the body of the tick, it can cause all the infected material of the tick to enter into your skin. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water and use a disinfectant.

You should have any tick bite checked by a doctor, but you should definitely have a doctor check out the bite if a rash of more than one inch wide appears at the site of the bite. This is a sign of Lyme disease. If you have flu-like symptoms up to a month after being bitten by a tick, call your doctor, you could have ehrlichiosis, another serious, potentially fatal, tick-borne disease that can be treated with antibiotics. Don’t forget to check your pets for ticks also. You can get a Lyme disease vaccine for your dogs, but they have not yet developed one for cats. Be sure to use a flea and tick control medication or a flea and tick collar also.

There are two main Right Bug Sprays that are recommended and are the only chemicals approved for use in the DoD protection system.  When used together, they provide nearly 100% protection from ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, fleas and other marauding insects.

DEET                     PERMETHRIN

Deet repellents work by evaporation, creating a shield a few inches above the area of application. The presence of the repellent vapor confuses insects so they can’t locate a target host. In most cases it usually requires less than 1% of the repellent to form this protective barrier. It is the combination of this "evaporation delivery system", and the base repellent you choose that determines how much repellent you must apply.  Different technologies used in making repellents will determine the initial application and re-application required for basis protection.  Another consideration must also include the insect you're trying to repel.  

Deet (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide): Deet is by far the most commonly used insect repellent worldwide. This is because it is the most effective repellent against mosquitoes, ticks and other biting insects. After researching hundreds of compounds, deet was selected by the USDA and the US Military as the safest and most economical.

Permethrin: Although known as a repellent, permethrin is actually a contact insecticide. That is, it kills pestie ticks or other insects that come in contact with it. Permethrin is considered ideal because it is applied to clothing, gear, mosquito nets and bedding and is not applied directly on the body.  Where ticks are a concern, permethrin on clothing or gear will kill ticks that travel across as little as 10" of treated fabric. Spray applications of permethrin remain effective up several weeks and through weekly washings. Dip applications can remain effective even longer.

Lotions: The active ingredients in a repellent formula suspended in a lotion can be gentler to the skin, and up to 50% more effective than comparable bug sprays. When on that backpacking trip lotions are the best and the easiest option to carry.

All So Check out Tips For Safe Backpacking like How To know the difference in Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac and how to spot them on the backpacking hiking trail ,or How to make Clean Drinking Water from  a stream when mountain backpacking . http://backpackingstore.net

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