Tick-Tick-Tick

[farouk]

9 hours ago, kwikphilly said:

That's the last place I'd look- I'd ask an esthetician about skin or a medical professional,not anyone looking to sell products and definitely not someone who is wounding the epidermis to make a permanent scar for aesthetics -nope

@kwikphilly Taken under advisement, thanks................

( cc @NConly )

Edited May 1, 2023 by farouk

[1to3]

15 hours ago, NConly said:

You need Fels-naptha Soap to keep ticks off. Not the best smell but it beats tick fever. wet it get suds rub on boots, bottome of pant legs, wrist of sleeves, collar of shirt on hat. $1.20 at wal mart. Found this in a fishing article few years back.

I guess it would also work if you can also grate the soap and place in spray bottle with water and spray on clothes boots skin?

1 part of grated Fels Naptha to 2 parts water warmed on the stove until all combined. Cool and place in spray bottle.

[NConly]

3 minutes ago, 1to3 said:

I guess it would also work if you can also grate the soap and place in spray bottle with water and spray on clothes boots skin?

1 part of grated Fels Naptha to 2 parts water warmed on the stove until all combined. Cool and place in spray bottle.

Good Idea, I 've been doing it the hard way.

[teddyv]

 

9 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Post-Vietnam military secret, brother: try Avon "Skin So Soft." Avon Skin So Soft is a highly effective insect repellant, so effective that we were encouraged to keep a supply of it in our gear. Keeps those skeeters at bay while keeping your skin "so soft"!  

By the way, Avon had to conform with government regulations so after the military proved that Skin So Soft is an effective replacement for DEET, the company got with the program and marketed Skin So Soft formulations specifically labelled (and approved) for use as insect repellents. 

 

Out in bear country, they started to not recommend this product as the fragrance tended to attract bears.

 

6 hours ago, Debp said:

I hope no one is in an area with ticks carrying Lyme disease.

There is risk of it through much of BC, but I've only pulled a couple ticks off me over the years.

[Marathoner]

25 minutes ago, teddyv said:

 

Out in bear country, they started to not recommend this product as the fragrance tended to attract bears

Interesting! I never used it in the mountains since the mosquitoes weren't that bad. The bears in those mountains loved apples; apple trees planted by Spanish colonizers spread out and became a land race over the course of a few centuries. Up there, apple trees attracted bears so it was wise to be cautious wherever those trees were found. 

[teddyv]

9 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

Interesting! I never used it in the mountains since the mosquitoes weren't that bad. The bears in those mountains loved apples; apple trees planted by Spanish colonizers spread out and became a land race over the course of a few centuries. Up there, apple trees attracted bears so it was wise to be cautious wherever those trees were found. 

Not many apple trees in the forests of BC. Lots of mosquitoes to be sure, especially in June and July.

Our local transfer station will not accept apples for the same reason though - bears can smell that for miles.

[Marathoner]

10 minutes ago, teddyv said:

Not many apple trees in the forests of BC. Lots of mosquitoes to be sure, especially in June and July.

Our local transfer station will not accept apples for the same reason though - bears can smell that for miles.

The various campgrounds in the national forest feature "bear resistant" dumpsters. The bears were only an issue during extreme weather events, which would send them wandering into lower altitudes in search of food. The first time I spotted a wandering bear, I was driving along the highway that skirted the eastern slopes on my way to Albuquerque. I saw something large and shaggy strolling across the asphalt up ahead...

"Is that a bear?"

My passenger replied, "Yep, it is. Slow down now. You'll see the cubs following mom shortly." 

We had a foraging bear try to encroach on the land a few times, but the dogs sent it packing back into the forest. They appear to be afraid of tenacious barking dogs. Bears only became an issue if you were careless, or there was something they wanted. Attacks were exceedingly rare. I thought they were pretty neat myself. 

[teddyv]

4 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

The various campgrounds in the national forest feature "bear resistant" dumpsters. The bears were only an issue during extreme weather events, which would send them wandering into lower altitudes in search of food. The first time I spotted a wandering bear, I was driving along the highway that skirted the eastern slopes on my way to Albuquerque. I saw something large and shaggy strolling across the asphalt up ahead...

"Is that a bear?"

My passenger replied, "Yep, it is. Slow down now. You'll see the cubs following mom shortly." 

We had a foraging bear try to encroach on the land a few times, but the dogs sent it packing back into the forest. They appear to be afraid of tenacious barking dogs. Bears only became an issue if you were careless, or there was something they wanted. Attacks were exceedingly rare. I thought they were pretty neat myself. 

We've got black bears by the bushelful out here. They don't worry me as they tend to mind their own business and attacks are quite rare. Grizzlies are far less common, but are the more dangerous, although in general, they will tend to avoid conflict with humans. Cubs are probably the biggest reason for conflict with any bear.

I've never had any real close calls with a bear so far in my field work. Came across one in a clearcut full of blueberries who made himself aware of me, but made no effort to leave, so I just backed out and left. Fired bear bangers at a another bear one time and it did not seem to care at all. Got in the truck and drove over and then he took off. A buddy of mine ended up face to face with a black bear, more by accident than anything. They ended up circling each other a couple times before the bear backed off. 

Having a dog or dogs is a good option in the bush. They can certainly smell them out and I think most animals intuitively know that when it comes to dogs, if there is one, there may likely a larger pack around.

[Marathoner]

When wolves were sighted in those mountains, I was very concerned for my dogs. One would think that bears or mountain lions posed a greater threat, but that doesn't hold up to reality. Both will run away when faced by the dogs, but wolves are a different matter. They view those dogs as challengers and competitors and despite how large and powerful livestock guardians can grow (mine were huge), it doesn't always end well for the dogs when wolves and livestock guardian dogs meet. That's why Turkish and European shepherds of old fitted their livestock guardian dogs with thick spiked collars; it was to protect the neck of the dogs from wolf bites. Some of those collars are rather elaborate works of art, using a combination of metal spikes and plates which can be ornate and colorful. 

An example of one of those traditional collars:

Edited May 1, 2023 by Marathoner

[Marathoner]

31 minutes ago, teddyv said:

We've got black bears by the bushelful out here. They don't worry me as they tend to mind their own business and attacks are quite rare. Grizzlies are far less common, but are the more dangerous, although in general, they will tend to avoid conflict with humans. Cubs are probably the biggest reason for conflict with any bear.

I've never had any real close calls with a bear so far in my field work. Came across one in a clearcut full of blueberries who made himself aware of me, but made no effort to leave, so I just backed out and left. Fired bear bangers at a another bear one time and it did not seem to care at all. Got in the truck and drove over and then he took off. A buddy of mine ended up face to face with a black bear, more by accident than anything. They ended up circling each other a couple times before the bear backed off. 

Having a dog or dogs is a good option in the bush. They can certainly smell them out and I think most animals intuitively know that when it comes to dogs, if there is one, there may likely a larger pack around.

The bears up there were non-confrontational for the most part. They adored the apple trees so as long as you didn't disturb them, they would ignore you. If I saw one up in an apple tree, I would move along. 

I can't overstate the value of our best friends on four legs in the wild places, especially older working breeds like those dogs. They were bred to operate independently of shepherds in alpine meadows going several months at a time without human contact, and adults will train the pups how to do the job on their own. I got a kick out of watching that in action. The pups tend to be impulsive and thoughtless, engaging in taboo activities such as trying to play with the livestock... and then the adult dog intervenes, sending the offending puppy away yelping with their tail between their legs.

My training had to do with teaching the dogs how to remain where I wanted them to be, and waiting for my approval before they pursued predators. While the younger dogs were chomping at the bit to chase coyotes (they were pathetic, lol), the eldest dog would sit still watching me closely. If I said, "Go!," then the dogs would jubilantly jump over the fences and chase the offenders all the way into the national forest. The only exception to this rule was bears... they didn't wait on me. As soon as they caught whiff of a bear, they ran straight for the brute growling and barking. Whatever they did together as a group, the eldest dog was in charge. 

Dogs are dogs, yes? So, being dogs, these guys were adorable and loved attention. Each dog was apparently "assigned" to personally watch over me or my adopted mother. Two dogs stationed themselves next to her when they weren't working, and three dogs gravitated toward me. If I went somewhere, they had to go with me. It was cute.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Marathoner