Why you should be armed in the woods/wilderness

[Bmyers]

Yes, ticks are nasty and sadly my wife has first hand experience. After years of seeking treatment, they finally found she has Lyme disease. Since it has been so long, she has to now work on dealing with the side effects.

Lyme is nothing to mess with and most doctors know little to nothing about it.

[David]

And these types of things a firearm isn't going to fix! Same with mosquito's. They can get to be more than just a nuisance down here with all thr rain and water.

[aerynsun]

Yes, ticks are nasty and sadly my wife has first hand experience. After years of seeking treatment, they finally found she has Lyme disease. Since it has been so long, she has to now work on dealing with the side effects.

Lyme is nothing to mess with and most doctors know little to nothing about it.

Yes, it is. What area of the country do you live?

[Bmyers]

Southern Illinois, outside of St. Louis, MO.

[aerynsun]

Southern Illinois, outside of St. Louis, MO.

Surprised at the location. But the disease is moving across the country. It is a evil disease. I fear most for little children who play in the backyard. They need to be inspected every day they go out. The ticks are so small they are almost impossible to find.

As to Survival, this is one of those thing were people say in an emergency they are going into the wood to survive proves them a fool. The only way of addressing Lyme disease is catching it early and massive doses of antibiotics over weeks.

The medical community isn't giving it much attention. There was work on a vaccine but too much risk for commercial use. I think you can get a vaccine for your dog.

[Bmyers]

Finding doctor's that know anything about it is a challenge.

It wasn't until the wife was on her fifth or sixth doctor (the others had been treating her for RA) did the doctor finally check her for Lyme. Sure enough, she came back positive for 5 of the markers and all of them were the long term markers (4 or 5 markers show short term infection, 4 or 5 of the markers show long term).

Ticks have really gone crazy around here. Our winters haven't been as cold, so I'm guessing that has let the tick population really thrive, plus wildlife populations have really taken off since less and less people are hunting.

[aerynsun]

Finding doctor's that know anything about it is a challenge.

It wasn't until the wife was on her fifth or sixth doctor (the others had been treating her for RA) did the doctor finally check her for Lyme. Sure enough, she came back positive for 5 of the markers and all of them were the long term markers (4 or 5 markers show short term infection, 4 or 5 of the markers show long term).

Ticks have really gone crazy around here. Our winters haven't been as cold, so I'm guessing that has let the tick population really thrive, plus wildlife populations have really taken off since less and less people are hunting.

Light colored clothing
Pants tucked into boots
DEET
Long sleve shirts
Shower & check after being outside.

[Mac66]

We check for ticks every time we're in the woods. We've found a few deer ticks, mostly wood ticks. Wood ticks are bigger, blacker, don't dig in and don't carry Lyme. I think the thing to remember is that with doctors not familiar enough with it its on you to be tested. If you show any symptoms ask to be checked immediately. I found a deer tick buried under my skin. After digging it out I went to the doc and got tested. It was negative.

[tom mac]

I always like checking the bride for ticks

[Mac66]

Hey baby, let me check you over....for ticks.