Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

I want to check you for ticks

To DEET or not to DEET...It's tick season people. Well, at the very least the season for lots of hiking and frolicking in areas where ticks are rampant is nigh.

I'm really not comfy with slathering DEET or similar products on my skin, let alone my small chitlins, so I've been researching a bit over the years on "natural" bug repellents.

There are quite a number of them on the market like Eco-Blend (formerly called Buzz-Off), Cactus Juice, and Bugs 'R' Done. These claim to be effective, but it's hard to say based on the ingredient list. And frankly, I can't believe something relying on cactus effluent or orange peel oil is going to work.

Has anyone had any luck using any non-DEET bug repellent?

Oh, and you Brad Paisley fans that made it this far, I apologize if you accidentally wandered into my little world instead of what you were actually looking for.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

We don't have much trouble with ticks here, but we have blackflies galore, which swarm and bite.

I've tried Buzz-Off, Blocker, Bygone Bugz and Green Ban. All of them work a little, but nothing long term. I'm convinced they eventually become attracted to the smell.

It doesn't stop a whole cottage industry here in Maine from creating new concoctions each year, though.

Anonymous said...

My problem is mosquitos. They loooove me. Natural repellents will only work at the beginning of the season when the buggers don't have strong bloodlust yet. After 76 bites on my lower legs in just 3 hours of wearing shorts and natural repellent (re-applied multiple times), I don't fool around anymore. The itching was almost unbearable for several days. I try to avoid the nasty chemicals, but sometimes a girl's gotta make tough choices!

Rechelle said...

What was up with the Brad Psisley thing? How did Crunchy Chicken translate to Brad Paisley? Hopefully all those die hard country rockers learned a little something while they were here. Too bad you didn't have the urinelle story up! They might have forgotten all about Brad.

Crunchy Chicken said...

dearest rechelle - if you look at the title of my post and google that and Brad Paisley, it just might become clear.

And you call yourself the "Country" Doctor's Wife?

Wendy Bredhold said...

I've gone through "crunchier" phases in my life when I was hairy-legged, and that was a good way to control ticks. I swear I could feel them better when they were maneuvering around the thicket on my legs. We tried natural and homemade repellents - including eating a lot of garlic and even applying it directly to our ankles, but were never convinced of their efficacy.

Isle Dance said...

Thanks for the update on natural repellents. I've a few of them but they're due for a replacement (I think they go bad/inactive after much time on the shelf).

It's really helped me to 1) wear light colored clothing, as biting bugs are apparently attracted to the dark and 2) add Kyolic liquid aged garlic into my diet as they don't like that smell (it took me a while to figure out ways to ingest it myself).

Anonymous said...

I don't think we have ticks here, but Green Ban Double Strength has worked wonders against mosquitos! I have very sensitive facial skin, and I was even able to put it on my face as an evening moisturizer.

Piddler said...

Hey, that's interesting about wearing light colored clothing. It might answer a mystery for me: Bugs love my dark colored horse but are not near as bothersome to my mostly white horse. I never considered it might have to do with color; I thought maybe the dark horse seemed more bugged because he is more sensitive and over-reacts to them; or maybe there was a difference in smell between them. But maybe it's color?

Anonymous said...

we've got a place in Polk County, WI - which is about as infested with ticks as you can get and is the Lyme disease capital of the world. As such, here's what I can tell you about ticks: 1) bug repellent doesn't work on them, no matter what kind of repellent it is, and 2) they're attracted to the carbon dioxide that's unfortunately an integral part of our respiration process.

I don't know that that actually helps your problem all that much since asking kids to slow down so that they're not kicking out the CO2 is basically impossible. What you can do is to dress them in long pants/long sleeves and tuck their pants into their socks, and tuck their shirts in. The ticks will crawl up looking for exposed flesh, and the layer of clothing will give you some time to find them before they start nibbling on you or your kids.

thankfully, the full coverage isn't a permanent thing since around here, ticks tend to taper off toward the end of June or mid-July.

Isle Dance said...

Piddler - definitely! You'll also notice bugs around dark windows/doors/autos/outhouses but not by light colored ones. Made me reconsider my front door - and next auto color! I need to wear a light colored hat, too. Now those bug zappers...they draw bugs to the area it's in when the bugs might not otherwise go over there. So, putting that near your door or gathering area kind of creates the endless cycle of bugs. Of course, please let me know if you discover otherwise...maybe this is all just me!

just ducky said...

Badger Anti-Bug Balm...it is fantastic. We've used it every summer for 3 years now. It smells of citrus and I don't feel like I have to scrub every bit of it off before I jump in bed at night like I have in the past with the chemical bug sprays. My father-in-law (huge pessimist)tried it and raved about it, too!

Anonymous said...

I make our own bug repellant out of essential oils and vodka. It works fab, the only drawback is you have to apply it often, especialy if you're hot and sweaty.

Unknown said...

My family has had good luck with All Terrain Herbal Armor insect repellent. I am a mosquito magnet and it kept them away which is a miracle. You do have to reapply and you should not apply in a confined space (like car) because the ordor is strong. It is safe for kiddies and works well. We picked it up at the pcc so most natural markets will probably carry it. rx

Anonymous said...

Bathe with Bronner's Soap, the Eucalyptus version, and apply the oil also. Bugs hate eucalyptus.
For people that live in the country or that have a large yard where it is legal to keep a few birds, get a few guinea hens, they are the tick eliminators, they love to eat them and can see them very well.
Also the guinea hens are very funny looking and acting birds, but not dumb, like turkeys, although they resemble Wild Turkeys. The hens can also be eaten if you go for that sort of thing. They make a tremendous stew. They don't taste like ticks, don't worry about that.

April said...

Wanna know somthin' funny? I saw Brad Paisley in concert last week. Yup, I did, and he sang his tick song, and I sang along and loved every minute of it.

I also pulled a tick off my back last night while I was sleeping, I didn't even get up to check it out, just plucked it off and flicked it across the room. Then this morning when I was a bit more lucid I got hyper tick awarness and thought I must have ticks everywhere!

I tried some all natural stuff last year and let's just say I think I turned myself and my children into beacons calling the bugs home, it was not good. We went back to using OFF with deet.

Anonymous said...

Shepherd's Choice (that"s me) makes a very effective all natural insect repellent called "Bug Dope". I've taken an organic base and added citronella, tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils to it. It's safe for kids and adults. It does need to be reapplied every few hours when the bugs are bad. It works great for biting black flies, and mosquitos, not sure how it works for ticks, I'd love some feedback. For more info go to shepherdschoice.com

Anonymous said...

okay,no one will see this post during december,but I'm reading backward through the blogs,so...Burt's Bees.Best mosqito repellant ever(don't know about ticks).You smell like lemon pledge,but that's better than smelling like chemicls.