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Believe it or not we don't have much of a tick problem (at least were I 
live) in FL. My dog has the run of our woods (10 acres) and the pasture 
(22 acres) and very seldom does he have a tick. He probably picks up one 
a month at most and I'm not sure those are not imported from our travels 
on endurance rides. But we do have lots of birds and lots of 
woodpeckers. We have on outbreak of "seed ticks" every few years but 
they don't last long - a few weeks. Actually I think those things are 
actually mites rather than ticks.

However, that was not the case when I was a kid in Western KY. The ticks 
there were horrible. Walk to the lake to go fishing and pick 10 off your 
legs. We pulled them off the dogs - these were big dime sized suckers - 
every few days in the summer. Ticks here aren't much of a concern on a 
daily basis - so I don't sweat them. If I still lived in Western KY, I 
probably would. We do have fleas buy I guess I kept them at bay before 
the advent of all these posions so I suspect I can still keep them at 
bay without using them.

The best way I've found to keep ticks at bay is to keep them out of your 
house. If you have carpet they will get in it and breed. Since you don't 
have a hard freeze in your carpet they will not die in the winter and 
they will keep breeding and reinfesting your dogs and the dog's owner. 
Once in the carpet it is almost impossible to completely get rid of 
short of a complete fumigation of the house. Even after that it only 
takes a couple being transported back in the carpets on a persons shoes 
to start the colony anew.

Neither house we have lived in down her had any carpet whatsoever. The 
floors are either wood or cermanic tile. That does two things, tends to 
keep it cooler in the summer and keeps the ticks out of the house - or 
at least from breeding in carpets.

We seem to have a lot less problems with fleas than folks with carpet in 
thier house.

Truman

Carol Suggs wrote:

> I am getting on this post late...but for what its worth. When we lived 
> in Texas 19+ years ago we really battled with the tick thing and the 
> dogs. It was constant, every evening for about a 7 month period we did 
> the pick and squish method. I don't think at that time we had stuff to 
> use except the powder and normal flea/tick collars. I swear in Texas 
> the ticks were horrible when we lived there.
> In California we really don't seem to have much of a problem where we 
> live but for about a 6 month period they seem to be a little more 
> active than the rest of the year. We use Front Line flea and tick top 
> spot and it seems to work pretty well. I also buy the higher dosage 
> and dispense accordingly as it is a little cheaper than buying the 
> individual vials and also do every other month application.
> We have 515 acres and although our dogs techincally have the run of 
> the place, they are always with us, but do go on rides with us and are 
> in the pond, grasses and brush when we ride. When we aren't riding 
> they are lazy butts that hang around sleeping at the barn or on the porch.
> I still check them for ticks and once in awhile I will find a few 
> (back to the pick and squish). When I discussed with our vet as to why 
> they still got a few ticks when I am using the Front line and the vet 
> replied, " try not using it and see how many you get".
> I use repellant myself when I ride, hike or when we are cutting wood 
> and brushing. We make sure that our horses are sprayed as well. To use 
> chemicals has risks, but so does obtaining an illness from these 
> critters.
> I know a trainer who contracted lyme disease years ago and it has 
> really zapped him. He has to be very careful as he now seems to be 
> overly sensative to getting run down and getting sick.
> To each his own, but I would prefer to use the chemicals when it comes 
> to the tick thing.



--

“The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second class 
citizen to a second class immortal.” Satchel Paige


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