FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Re: Tic removal for birders and others

[Bill Pulliam <bb551@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I suppose this is not entirely off-topic since birders and wildlife  
biologists are at elevated risk for tick-borne disease.

The number one rule of tick safety (after prevention) is to get them  
off as soon as possible.  I would never delay removing a tick until I  
got home just because I did not have the proper accoutrements.  The  
risk of disease climbs steadily the longer they remain imbedded.  I  
have always pulled them off unceremoniously and immediately, and have  
never developed a tick-borne illness or any significant problems at  
the bite site.  Some would say I have been lucky, but after having  
pulled out thousands and thousands of ticks over the years using  
nothing but my fingernails, if it were just luck it would have surely  
run out by now.

Prevention -- One of Cynthia Rohrbach's bird survey transects on the  
Swan Trust land is in horrific tick habitat.  We actually wore those  
ridiculous Tyvek suits  They were hot, crinkly, and sticky, but they  
also probably blocked 99% of the ticks I would have otherwise gotten  
bitten by.

Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN
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