Choosing to Reset

Ticks

I hate ticks. They are blood sucking, disease spreading little bugs. This seems like a good place to encourage you to leave opossums alone and let them do their work. They are tick eating machines, the don’t carry diseases like rabies, and they are smart.

Ticks thrive in heavily wooded and grassy areas. We do all we can to prevent our dogs from getting ticks. What we have found that works best is Simparica Trio and they get very regular baths.

When I’m in the woods I stick to well-trodden paths and avoid walking through high grass or dense brush. I try not go walking in tall grass or into brush. I try hard to stick to the trail unless there’s a problem like a tree limb down that I have to walk around. Tick Information Here

Ticks are such a problem that there is now clothing treated with permethrin to repel them. I’m not sure that I’m ready for that yet but only because what I’m doing is working.

Before I go for my morning walk:

• I spray my shoes with Deep Woods Off daily and lightly spray my socks. I try to minimize using the Off on my skin and so far this works.

• Most ticks will come from the ground up. When I’m walking in the woods I wear tight fitting long pants (leggings) or shorts. Ticks love to slip inside the hem of pants. I can see them if I’m wearing shorts and wearing tight pants make it harder those bugs to get in.

When I return home:

• I keep my hiking shoes outside. If that’s not possible, I recommend they are sealed in a plastic sack. There are lots of places for ticks to hide on shoes.

• I am fortunate that our back door is right by our laundry room. My walking clothes go straight into the washer when I return.

• After spending time outdoors, I shower and in check my entire body for ticks. I pay close attention to hidden areas like underarms, in and around ears, inside the belly button, behind knees, around the waist, and especially in hair.

Mosquitoes and Biting Flies

Honestly we don’t have a terrible problem with mosquitoes here. We have a prevailing south wind that cuts across our property and that helps, we also have bats, frogs, lizards, and dragonflies that keep them down. I would get an occasional mosquito bite while in the deep part woods but haven’t had a single nibble since wearing peppermint oil. I was having a terrible time with biting flies, but the peppermint oil is doing the trick. I put a few drops on my neck, wrists, and the back of my knees. The one day I forgot I got a bite on the back of my calf. I would recommend getting peppermint oil that specifically says for skin.

I hope this helps. I would love to hear what you are doing that works.