Ticks, midges (sandflies) and mosquitoes - solutions to prevent being bitten by the suckers!

[Constance]

Hi everyone

We were talking in the mod chat room today about how to repell Ticks, midges (sandflies) and mosquitoes. One very practical solution provided by TinTin (thank you Tin Tin! ) for midge prevention was lavender and citronella oil in a burner.

I don't know if anyone has had any success with the lint roller idea for ticks?

https://www.healthy-holistic-living....ng-you/?t=snjv

I really welcome all possible solutions because this is something that plagues us all.

[Forest Denizen]

Posted by Constance (here)
Hi everyone

We were talking in the mod chat room today about how to repell Ticks, midges (sandflies) and mosquitoes. One very practical solution provided by TinTin (thank you Tin Tin! ) for midge prevention was lavender and citronella oil in a burner.

I don't know if anyone has had any success with the lint roller idea for ticks?

https://www.healthy-holistic-living....ng-you/?t=snjv

I really welcome all possible solutions because this is something that plagues us all.

When working outside in areas where ticks are abundant, my colleagues and I always carry duct tape. Particularly useful for some tiny ticks (as in the forests of Central America) that accumulate in a ball the size of a cherry consisting of MANY of the little devils.

They hang out at the tip of a leaf and as soon as you brush by, they all attach to your clothes and start spreading. If you quickly wrap duct tape around your hand, sticky side out, and slap them with it, you can collect them all in a hurry!

[Billy]

We have a abundance of midges, ticks and clegs here in Scotland, because of the unusual mild winter this year we have been warned that this will be a bumper year those blood sucking beasties. So far I have removed around 10 ticks from various parts of my body this year so far. Just last week a good friend and neighbor who builds fences around farmland developed Lyme's disease from a tick, he is on antibiotics at this time.

We have tried many sorts of repellents over the years. Most of them do not work and can be harmful to sensitive skin.
A few years ago one woman who had studied mosquitoes and midges in her lab invented the best repellent ever. It works and is harmless to the skin.
She named the product "Smidge". The ingredients are user friendly.

https://www.smidgeup.com/

http://www.walkfife.com/smidge-insect-repellent-review/

I took some smidge to India when I was last there almost 2 yrs ago. When I remembered to use it, The mosquitoes left me alone.

Ticks are difficult to repel, the best way to protect yourself is by wearing Wellington's. That can be sealed by pull cords around the top. The advice above with using tape is also good. But the wee beasties still manage to find a way to attach themselves to the softest skin on parts of the body that you cannot access by yourself.
I was sharing with the mods that we are like monkeys in our small community when we detick each other
There are various tick removing tools that we use. This is the one I carry around with me.

[Constance]

Posted by Billy (here)
We have a abundance of midges, ticks and clegs here in Scotland, because of the unusual mild winter this year we have been warned that this will be a bumper year those blood sucking beasties. So far I have removed around 10 ticks from various parts of my body this year so far. Just last week a good friend and neighbor who builds fences around farmland developed Lyme's disease from a tick, he is on antibiotics at this time.

We have tried many sorts of repellents over the years. Most of them do not work and can be harmful to sensitive skin.
A few years ago one woman who had studied mosquitoes and midges in her lab invented the best repellent ever. It works and is harmless to the skin.
She named the product "Smidge". The ingredients are user friendly.

https://www.smidgeup.com/

http://www.walkfife.com/smidge-insect-repellent-review/

I took some smidge to India when I was last there almost 2 yrs ago. When I remembered to use it, The mosquitoes left me alone.

That is amazing Billy. Do you know if this would also be safe for pets?

[Billy]

Posted by Constance (here)

Posted by Billy (here)
We have a abundance of midges, ticks and clegs here in Scotland, because of the unusual mild winter this year we have been warned that this will be a bumper year those blood sucking beasties. So far I have removed around 10 ticks from various parts of my body this year so far. Just last week a good friend and neighbor who builds fences around farmland developed Lyme's disease from a tick, he is on antibiotics at this time.

We have tried many sorts of repellents over the years. Most of them do not work and can be harmful to sensitive skin.
A few years ago one woman who had studied mosquitoes and midges in her lab invented the best repellent ever. It works and is harmless to the skin.
She named the product "Smidge". The ingredients are user friendly.

https://www.smidgeup.com/

http://www.walkfife.com/smidge-insect-repellent-review/

I took some smidge to India when I was last there almost 2 yrs ago. When I remembered to use it, The mosquitoes left me alone.

That is amazing Billy. Do you know if this would also be safe for pets?

Personally I do not know that answer Constance. We usually just manually remove them from our cats and dogs.
But I just searched and found some feedback.
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/of...or_dogs-687598

[Cardillac]

Hi all,

here in my area of SW Germany tics are a huge problem (all along the Rhine valley from Switzerland up to ca. Mannheim): we are infested with tics and they can carry Lyme disease as well as a form of meningitis that can be fatal;

in the 80's a former co-worker was off from work for 9 mo's due to a tic bite on his scalp (Lyme)-

I figure the best protection is prevention; when walking in shady wooded areas or through shaded grass wear long, brighter colored pants (so one can spot black tics easier) tucked into one's shoes and wear a cap-

a few yrs. ago the German Stiftung Warentest (consumer reports) investigated the efficacy of anti-mosquito/tic products and found that most were completely useless/didn't work including many of those sold in pharmacies (!)-

please be well all-

Larry :-)

[Sue (Ayt)]

The main problem for me right now is chiggers. They manage to get into the worst places, and their itches are ridiculously itchy for the longest time! And the little seed ticks have been pretty bad this year too. grrrr
I will certainly be keeping my eye on this thread.

I do make a concoction myself that seems to help to a point. I fill a spray bottle with:
water
a tbsp of olive oil or whatever I have
plus drops of essential oils, usually peppermint, rosemary, and clove oils.
I shake it all up and spray it liberally all over. I think the added oil helps keep it on my skin longer.

[Deux Corbeaux]

Remember that small blue glass jar, Viks VapoRub.

Ticks hate Vicks, which is great news for us!
Smear a little Vicks near the tick and he’ll probably let go. Make sure you’re ready to kill him after he’s let go!

It helps against mosquitos as well.
Putting a little Vicks on your ankles, near your shoeline, and some on your neck, elbows and wrists will chase away mosquitoes and other critters. They won’t be able to “smell” your blood over the scent of the Vicks.

Since Vicks is safe for everyone over the age of two, the whole family can be bug bite-free!

Btw, any (Thai) massage oil with the same ingredients will do as well.

[angelfire]

I know from personal experience that mosquitoes hate the smell of one of the B vitamins and if you eat a tablespoon of yeast flakes every day they will definitely leave you well alone.

[bobme]

You can also rub vasoline on ticks. and then they let go quickly. I grab them with tweesers when they let go, then torch them.

[Sunny]

Posted by angelfire (here)
I know from personal experience that mosquitoes hate the smell of one of the B vitamins and if you eat a tablespoon of yeast flakes every day they will definitely leave you well alone.

I have not had any luck with B vitamins for mosquitoes, but it works very well with fleas.

[suwesi]

Hello,
unfortunately I have not found a way to prevent tics from biting. (and I tried a lot)

But:
it takes +8 hours for tics to start transmitting borrelia or other bacteria. (They first have to feed on blood, that way the bacteria in their tummy starts multiplying. So first they only drink - so it is a one-way. After 8 hours they start to also „spit“ a bit - that is when bacteria gets transmitted.

So the sooner one pulls them out, the better.

Do NOT: twist, squeeze them (their bellies), smear anything on/near them. That might provoke them to throw up inside of you (their tummy content, which happens to consist of bacteria and viruses).

Just grab them as close to the skin as possible and pull them straight out.
I like to use bent tweezers: https://www.amazon.com/bent-curved-t...urved+tweezers
If part of the tic is torn off and stays inside of you, that is no bit deal (it is like a little splinter -your body will get rid of it).

After removing the tic I use lugols (iodine). + If at hand dmso.
The longer the tic was on, the larger in diameter I smear lugols on and around the bite. (it is a strong antibiotic + it is absorbed by the body + bacteria cannot get resistant to it).
That way possibly transmitted pathogens get killed.

Should I ever get infected again, I would use high dose iodine orally. (for those who want to try it: be sure to read dr. brownsteins infos about how to take iodine).

To help with itching when bitten by mosquitos I use high dose Vitamin C (usually after 4 hours I have to take the next dose).

While taking C60 in olive oil, every bite I got simply did not itch. That was amazing and a bit spooky (I saw the moskioto bite me - sometimes I saw a swelling start, and that was it. The swelling went away in minutes and the bite was not visible anymore).

greetings suwesi

[Bill Ryan]

Light relief.

I had a friend who'd heard that rubbing one's skin with orange peel helps to deter mosquitoes. (Never done this, but I imagine it works as citronella does.)

But he didn't have any to hand... so he used banana peel instead.

It really didn't work very well.

[meeradas]

Vampires are repelled by garlic. Really.

[Franny]

When working outside I spray pure white vinegar all over to repeal mosquitos and have no problem.

Garlic in the windows for vampires, never had a problem there either.

[scotslad]

Avon's "Skin so soft" - hands down Best anti midge product. Sat outside at film festival yesterday at Gordon Castle - heaven and not one midge bite - thanks to that

Also, check this out - https://www.scotsman.com/news-2-1501...ines-1-1403152

[ExomatrixTV]

source

[Sue (Ayt)]

Posted by ExomatrixTV (here)

source

I've been suspicious about this Alpha-Gal thing that has popped up rapidly in the last few years. Many folks around here claim to have it now, and thus can't eat red meat products.
It sure seems like it is by design.