TICKS

[xoxoxoBruce]

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/t...t_of_2017.html

Scientists who study ticks saw this year coming. Two years ago, I was walking through the forest with biologist Richard Ostfeld as he hunted for ticks (“Oh, I have an adult! Fantastic!”) when he warned me that 2017 was going to be really bad. That’s because 2015 was a “mast year,” when trees produce a ton of acorns. (Plant biologists are still figuring out how and why trees decide to mast.) The year after a mast year, the acorn-gnawing mouse population booms, and then the year after that—i.e., right now—the mouse blood–sucking tick population goes bonkers. Mice are also among the most important hosts for Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the country, so 2017 is likely to be a doozy for Lyme. (There are other dangerous and weird tick-borne diseases, many of which are becoming more prevalent.

Usually they take 12 to 24 hours attached to transmit nasty diseases, but powassan virus in as little as 15 minutes.

Permethrin is the Google of Insect Repellents.

And permethrin works—way better than regular insect repellants. That’s because permethrin a) not only repels but also kills ticks on contact and b) lasts a long time. When you get your clothes treated professionally, as I do, they are tick-proof for 70 washes. If you treat them yourself, they’re protected for five or six washes. Some research suggests that DEET, on the other hand, starts losing its tick-repelling power within two hours of application. (Don’t get me wrong, DEET is absolutely, positively better than nothing.)

get ticked off !