"Malcolm" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Anywhere can harbour ticks. Tall vegetation can hold more than short
vegetation, but there's no hard and fast rule, and nowhere, in my
estimation, can be regarded as "safe" areas. There are ticks in my garden
(Islay, just across the water from Kintyre). The only sure way of being
tick-free, or as near as possible, is to wear the correct clothing and
inspect yourself *very* carefully every night. I personally wouldn't dream
of inspecting myself "every five minutes" - the risk isn't *that* great -
and if you think there is some possibility of them "crawling up your
trouser legs", then just make sure that there is no gap when they get to
the top! Unless you meant that they were crawling up inside (!) in which
case tuck your trousers into thick socks. Problem solved!
--
Malcolm
I know what you mean about nowhere being completely safe from ticks, but
there are plenty areas where the risk is very low, this is what I was
meaning. The opposite is also true...with areas full of them! I've been to
many of these densely populated areas, Mull, Islay (as you mentioned), Jura,
Argyll, etc. to mention a few. Mostly I avoid getting bitten, by following
regular checks, but on a few occasions I do get bitten. I recon it's always
a good idea to keep checking for them on your clothing whenever you go
through long vegetation, it doesn't have to be every 5 minutes or too
thorough a check, but just a quick look on your trouser legs. This for me
only applies in an area that I know or suspect of having ticks, in areas I
regard as safe, or very low risk, I don't bother, or only very occasionally.
If these quick checks are always clear, then the area's probably quite low
risk, so less checks (or none) are needed. If you don't check like this, as
you suggest, any ticks will just keep crawling up you until they get to your
skin...behind ears are a common place to find them on a victim. They
definitely don't stop at the top of your trousers. I've discovered them on
my shoulder (on the outside of my shirt), on a couple of occasions. If I
hadn't checked, they would have been down my back, behind my ears or in my
hair for their lunch! A lot also depends on the weather conditions & time of
year, areas I'd once considered as safe, have turned out to be anything but,
on another visit, eg. Isle of Mull.
--
Regards,
Robert.
