Des Moines Register
05-28-06
Outdoors: In the open
JULI PROBASCO-SOWERS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
There are methods for controlling ticks
Mention the possibility of ticks and people often shudder, even shy away from
participating in some outdoor activities.
Ticks used to strike fear into my heart, almost as much fear as large spiders that
run fast and jump high, but I've encountered enough ticks in my outdoor
adventures that encounters have become pretty routine.
Usually my first tick encounters happen when I'm turkey hunting in the spring.
The last two years, each hunt would result in me picking off numerous ticks, even
after I had used insect sprays with labels that assured they would deflect ticks
and mosquitoes.
The pesky blood-sucking insects are hardly deterred by the run-of-the-mill insect
spray.
So, over the years, I've simply gotten in the habit of tick picking. That is,
searching for ticks. I'll usually run my fingertips through my hair, along my scalp
and shake out all my clothes. I've found ticks crawling on clothes a week after
they were hung up on the porch.
I was mildly pleased this year when during my first four days of turkey hunting I
only turned up about 10 ticks. Then, when I spent a day outside with family
getting a field that had been mowed ready for planting, I turned up with so many
ticks I lost count. It was time to take action.
Several people recommended products containing Permanone, also called
permethrin. This product is placed on clothing, rather than skin, and repels
insects, including ticks.
I found a spray product at Sportsman's Warehouse in Ankeny that contained the
chemical. I paid about $10 for the can and took it home. A friend advised me
earlier to spray the clothing a day or two ahead and let it air out to avoid getting a
headache from the chemical. He and his wife had that happen a couple of times
when they sprayed their clothes immediately before heading out to hunt.
So a couple of days before my last turkey hunt on May 14, I sprayed my loose-
leaf camouflage and hung the clothes out to air. Low and behold, I did not have
one tick on me at all during my turkey hunting. Nor did I find any hidden later.
Still, after my previous tick encounter, I was sure there was a major influx of ticks
this year, but I was wrong.
"They don't seem to be any more numerous than last year," said Ken Holscher,
associate professor in the Department of Entomology at Iowa State
University in Ames. "I've often said I think the number of ticks people encounter
is based more on the people and their activity rather than the ticks."
Holscher said someone like myself, who suddenly encounters more ticks,
probably roamed into an area that had quite a few.
"Ticks feed on anything that has blood in it," he said. "Wherever you have an
abundance of wildlife, you have the opportunity to have an abundance of ticks."
Holscher agreed that regular bug repellent, even if the label shows a tick, is
formulated for mosquitoes. He suggests using permethrin products by applying to
clothing, usually from the knees to the feet, unless a person will be lying on the
ground.
In that case, more spray should be applied.