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Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and goin

Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.

radicaldreamer 4y ago
Ticks in california don't carry lyme typically. I'd be a lot more worried if you were on Long Island or on the east coast generally. If you do get bit though, the bite is very obvious and you'd know. If you catch the tick, you can send it in for testing, although it might be easier just to take the doxy.
- erisinger 4y ago
  Almost nothing stated here is accurate…
  - oblib 4y ago
    It may have changed since I lived there but that was certainly true when I did. And I spent a lot of time rambling around the mountains, creeks, and NFs and NPs there and most all of it bushwhacking off trail.
  - radicaldreamer 4y ago
    Which part is inaccurate? (genuinely curious)... I was bit by a tick in Marin a few years ago (I caught the tick as well), got very nervous about Lyme and researched it thoroughly, was much less concerned after consulting a few folks in the Bay Area. Lyme seems rare here (UCSF estimates 2-15% prevalence in ticks but its far less common than on the east coast). https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html
- rzz3 4y ago
  This is categorically false.
Enginerrrd 4y ago
We definitely have ticks with Lyme in CA. I live up north and my county is a bit of a hot spot actually. If you do get bit, don't panic. Typically the tick has to be attached for greater than 24hours before you are at risk since transmission usually occurs when the tick has to regurgitate digested blood back into you. I've been bit too many times to count while surveying and doing site visits to hike creek beds in the spring. Never came down with Lyme. Always found the tick before it'd been on for too long. You also learn to feel them and pick them off before they bite.
- dzhiurgis 4y ago
  > regurgitate digested blood back into you. Ok now i hate ticks even more
- dzhiurgis 4y ago
  Here I am looking for this post - found a tick on my kid this morning!
nerdponx 4y ago
Anecdotally, anywhere in New Jersey, southern New York, or Connecticut. I'm not sure about prevalence further north into upstate New York or New England, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was bad there too. Checking for ticks isn't that hard, and bring sharp tweezers if you go out for a day hike or a camping trip. Just make sure you grab it from the head/mouth and don't squeeze the body. I was always told that if you catch and remove it within the first ~24 hours you are reasonably safe.
- jrumbut 4y ago
  It is very prevalent in New England. This map shows at least one case in every state in the continental US: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/datasurveillance/maps-recent.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/datasurveillance/maps-recent.html Anecdotally, at least half the people on the street I grew up on in Massachusetts had it (and this was before the idea of long term Lyme became widely known, these were acute infections).
  - nerdponx 4y ago
    Makes sense, and sounds about like how things are in southern New York and Connecticut.
micromacrofoot 4y ago
The tick-infested area is anywhere with moderately tall grass on the entire eastern half of the United States. I don't think a lot of people realize how bad it's gotten over the past 10-20 years.
ghaff 4y ago
Wear long pants and gaiters sprayed with Permethrin. Do tick checks after a hike. Try to avoid unnecessarily walking through long grass. It's not possible to guarantee you won't get a tick on you but you can mitigate a lot of the risk pretty easily. Also, while ticks carry a number of nasties generally, Lyme is specifically about the small deer ticks. You should be cautious but not "deadly afraid."
AngryData 4y ago
Not that I know of, but one of the best way to avoid ticks is to not brush against the end of branch or leaf tips on trails. That is where ticks like to hang out the most because that's where animals walk the most. The lesser used path in dense foilage is less likely to get you ticks than taking the well used path with overgrown edges. Of course that has mostly only helped me when going into areas I know are full of ticks from past experience and can navigate without using trails.
dreen 4y ago
Just check yourself after coming back from any forested area, no need for an app

Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.

radicaldreamer 4y ago

Ticks in california don't carry lyme typically. I'd be a lot more worried if you were on Long Island or on the east coast generally. If you do get bit though, the bite is very obvious and you'd know. If you catch the tick, you can send it in for testing, although it might be easier just to take the doxy.

erisinger 4y ago
Almost nothing stated here is accurate…
- oblib 4y ago
  It may have changed since I lived there but that was certainly true when I did. And I spent a lot of time rambling around the mountains, creeks, and NFs and NPs there and most all of it bushwhacking off trail.
- radicaldreamer 4y ago
  Which part is inaccurate? (genuinely curious)... I was bit by a tick in Marin a few years ago (I caught the tick as well), got very nervous about Lyme and researched it thoroughly, was much less concerned after consulting a few folks in the Bay Area. Lyme seems rare here (UCSF estimates 2-15% prevalence in ticks but its far less common than on the east coast). https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/tables.html
rzz3 4y ago
This is categorically false.

Enginerrrd 4y ago

We definitely have ticks with Lyme in CA. I live up north and my county is a bit of a hot spot actually. If you do get bit, don't panic. Typically the tick has to be attached for greater than 24hours before you are at risk since transmission usually occurs when the tick has to regurgitate digested blood back into you. I've been bit too many times to count while surveying and doing site visits to hike creek beds in the spring. Never came down with Lyme. Always found the tick before it'd been on for too long. You also learn to feel them and pick them off before they bite.

dzhiurgis 4y ago
> regurgitate digested blood back into you. Ok now i hate ticks even more
dzhiurgis 4y ago
Here I am looking for this post - found a tick on my kid this morning!

nerdponx 4y ago

Anecdotally, anywhere in New Jersey, southern New York, or Connecticut. I'm not sure about prevalence further north into upstate New York or New England, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was bad there too. Checking for ticks isn't that hard, and bring sharp tweezers if you go out for a day hike or a camping trip. Just make sure you grab it from the head/mouth and don't squeeze the body. I was always told that if you catch and remove it within the first ~24 hours you are reasonably safe.

jrumbut 4y ago
It is very prevalent in New England. This map shows at least one case in every state in the continental US: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/datasurveillance/maps-recent.html https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/datasurveillance/maps-recent.html Anecdotally, at least half the people on the street I grew up on in Massachusetts had it (and this was before the idea of long term Lyme became widely known, these were acute infections).
- nerdponx 4y ago
  Makes sense, and sounds about like how things are in southern New York and Connecticut.

micromacrofoot 4y ago

The tick-infested area is anywhere with moderately tall grass on the entire eastern half of the United States. I don't think a lot of people realize how bad it's gotten over the past 10-20 years.

ghaff 4y ago

Wear long pants and gaiters sprayed with Permethrin. Do tick checks after a hike. Try to avoid unnecessarily walking through long grass. It's not possible to guarantee you won't get a tick on you but you can mitigate a lot of the risk pretty easily. Also, while ticks carry a number of nasties generally, Lyme is specifically about the small deer ticks. You should be cautious but not "deadly afraid."

AngryData 4y ago

Not that I know of, but one of the best way to avoid ticks is to not brush against the end of branch or leaf tips on trails. That is where ticks like to hang out the most because that's where animals walk the most. The lesser used path in dense foilage is less likely to get you ticks than taking the well used path with overgrown edges. Of course that has mostly only helped me when going into areas I know are full of ticks from past experience and can navigate without using trails.

dreen 4y ago

Just check yourself after coming back from any forested area, no need for an app