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Comment by monster_truck | Hacker News Reader

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Used to be a big Event Of The Year when my grandpa found one after spending all day out in their 'garden' (a few acres bordering deep woods). I remember being maybe 11 when he found one, let me try and figure out how to crush it, I couldn't. He showed me how to use the butt of a butterknife and leverage to get the fuckers

I don't live anywhere near a proper forest and we've had several close calls this year, I caught one crawling across my scalp when I was getting into bed last month. Went and got tested just to be safe

I know feeding crows is really fun, but please don't. It's very important that they get hungry enough to eat mice sometimes. Same goes for deer, the past couple of years I've had them walk _towards_ me and my dog instead of bolting, presumably because someone is feeding them (by hand, not garden raiding)

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Getting a tick is no big event. It is just something that happens if you live near woods. I own a forest, and get ticks on occasion. Gross, but no big deal. Grab a tick-pulling tool and gently coax them out. Don't crush them or force them out with a blunt object, you are just as likely to tear their head off and leave it stuck in you, which just makes it more likely for you to get sick. Just remove them before 24 hours, and it is highly unlikely they'll give you a disease.

Ticks also get attached to humans in tall grass and forest edges, not from the trees. Walking through open fields is a more likely way to get a tick than walking through the woods, because that is where the deer sleep. They bed down in tall grass, and the ticks come along for the ride. So be wary of the grass, not the woods. As a matter of fact, the best thing you can do to keep ticks away from your home if you live out in the country is to keep 8-10 feet of grass cut really short at the perimeter of your property or wherever it meets the woods.

Young deer often walk towards people, too. They aren't born afraid of humans, and have natural instincts to freeze, not flee. So when their mama hides them, it is just as likely to be near humans, not in the woods with the coyotes. They'll learn the fear soon enough (definitely during hunting season), but until then they certainly have youthful curiosity.

Even so, "sign me up" is still a good answer. Home testing sounds great.

Ticks can transmit Powassan and Heartland viruses within the first 15 minutes of a bite.

Still feeling cool, suave, experienced, and fearless?

Hey, thanks - I wasn't aware of that. Glad to have learned it.

But you can probably tell that there is no need to be snarky. Just your first sentence would have been more in line with how people engage with each other around here.

I'd argue it's perfectly fine to have some snark reacting to a comment spreading a potentially dangerous sentiment.

I have at least one serious regret about trusting someone on the internet saying something incorrect confidently.

Your comment's first sentence says "getting a tick is no big event."

My response aims to inhibit and disrupt the complacency neuron of the reader that might have been activated by your comment. Sorry, but learning hurts sometimes.

And tick-borne encephalitis, in regions where that is endemic.

No need to be rude, though!

Being rude to people spreading dangerous misinformation is mandatory on the internet, lima.

Do you kindly and charitably respond to antivaxxers and drug dealers?

HN has very specific rules for this: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

You don't respond to them at all, flag the comment, and/or email the moderators.

Being snarky does not contribute to the discussion and gets your comments flagged.

So you (high karma user) are recommending that I (low karma user) simply flag (which I can't do) and not respond (leaving no trace) to misinformation?

I should respond to bad info by continuing to lurk. Very smart!

Yes, if you're unable to be polite about it, just don't comment and/or email the moderators. Your comment would have been informative and well-received without the snark.

You were right to call out the other person for trivializing the risks of tick bites, just assume good faith and be kind.

I think you're being a bit strong with the "So be wary of the grass, not the woods"

In the trees they drop down on you from above. Had them do that many times.

The general consensus is to wear a hat when mushrooming in the places I've been.

Ticks do not drop from trees.

Where is your proof?

They have thermal sensors on their forearms and are known to climb trees. Why wouldn't they approach from above?

Ticks climb low vegetation (not just grass) and wait for a host to pass by ("questing").

If you're going to disagree with basic textbook biology knowledge, the burden of proof is on you.

Ticks don't exclusively hunt via questing. Some will actively pursue hosts if needed. The lone star tick is especially known for this: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/3/478

> In contrast to D. variabilis, A. americanum is regarded as a hunter tick, which will walk/crawl rapidly across many meters when attracted by host odors. This behavior enhances its host range since these ticks do not have to wait for a passing host.

Humans walk to Burger King (not just McDonalds), provide payment, and wait for a cashier to provide them a hamburger. Everyone knows humans aren't capable of "hunting" with a "bow and arrow."

You are taking the official, "please don't panic" story from CDC and trying to force it down everyone's throats while claiming it's as basic a fact of biology as chromosomes and the mitochondria. It's not. This is a contested area of animal behavior, not a microscopic process.

Are you persistent in being dense because you want somebody to engage with and correct you, or are you genuinely trying to get people infected?

https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/about/index.html

https://projectlyme.org/ticks-debunking-common-myths-and-mis...

Could you share the paper where every tick species was tested over a decade and none of them ever climbed up a tree and fell down on prey?

On the Elizabeth Islands at Cape Cod MA we have huge numbers of ticks and all the allergies and illnesses that go along with them. We also have no pavement or vehicles so we are into tick habitat as soon as we step out the door. To defend ourselves we have developed an oversock to stop ticks on the foot and lower leg where they often hop on. We chose a tight-weave parachute fabric so that even the tiniest ticks can't get through, and found a fabric that is light and breathable but tough, and we used a turndown at the knee to stop ticks from climbing. We treat these at Insect Shield in NC so that they are double protection: repelling ticks with permethrin and blocking access to skin with an unbroken barrier over the foot to the knee. We had a lot of interest outside our island community so we sewed up a big batch in Fall River MA and have made them available. Search Ticktogs if you think they might help you like they have helped us. They have cut way back on our tick bites.

TIL about Ticktogs. Thanks!

Can you explain how short grass on the perimeter helps?

For me, getting a tick gave me a life-threatening allergy to the galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose molecule, which is manufactured in mammal cells. I will die if I eat red meat and go into possible anaphylaxis if I have dairy. There are also thousands of other foods I can't eat because they're either high in histamine molecules or they included mammal processing at some step (for instance red wine is often filtered through gelatin). This allergy is currently understood to be transmitted immediately at the bite.

I definitely agree that without these nightmarish tick conditions it's a non-event, but with them...

The tick you're talking about here (hard to crush) is a wood tick, the types that carry lyme are deer ticks.

They're much, much smaller. The size of a poppy seed.

Deer ticks are hard to crush too. And I'd say typically closer to the size of a sesame than a poppy seed. I like to pinch them between the tips of two fingernails, but lighting them on fire is also an enjoyable way to end them.

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