In the spring I really want to spend time with my family, friends in nature, breathe fresh air, gain strength. In the summer in the forest, and even near the lake, you can escape from the bustle of everyday life, relax. But outdoor recreation does not always leave only positive emotions, ticks can spoil leisure time. They live in deciduous forests, in tall grass, thickets of bushes. How to protect yourself from ticks is the main question for all vacationers.
Seasonal activity of parasites
In the forest in the spring you can "meet" the tick at the end of March. Last year, the first bite was recorded on March 7. This suggests that pests wake up very early when the air temperature reaches +2 degrees Celsius.
On a note!
The peak of pest activity occurs at the end of May, mid-June. During this period of time, hiking in the forest is especially dangerous for humans.
Ticks prefer deciduous trees, shrubs, tall grass. They love moisture, but are more often found in a sunny meadow at the edge of the forest, as well as in thickets of grass. Pests do not rise above 50 cm above the ground, so the statement that parasites fall on a person from trees is incorrect. The likelihood of picking up a tick increases when you are among bushes, in the grass. Parasites often attack people while picking berries.
In July, the activity decreases slightly. This is facilitated by climatic conditions - high temperature, low humidity, as well as the vital activity of natural enemies. In August, the young generation of ticks appears, so you need to be on the lookout again.
On a note!
Pests disappear with the onset of persistent cold weather. With a warm, moderately rainy autumn, parasites can be found even in early November.
Precautions - Correct Color
In order not to pick up a tick, you need to choose sunny meadows for rest in an open area. Close proximity of bushes and thickets should be avoided. If a trip to the forest is associated with constant movement - picking berries, mushrooms, the right clothes will help protect yourself from ticks.
There is one proven method for detecting ticks. A light piece of cloth is moistened, carried out slowly over the grass, leaves of bushes. If there are parasites in the thickets, they will definitely crawl onto a white canvas. To avoid such a situation, not to provoke pests, you should not wear light-colored clothes in the forest.
Uniform that is too dark is also not suitable, since it is difficult to see a parasite that only intends to dig into the skin.
Tick-proof clothing
On a note!
The best option is clothes in green colors. With such a disguise, you can protect yourself from ticks, avoid bites, and unpleasant consequences. You can also purchase an anti-mite suit - the best option for people who have to stay in the centers of tick localization for a long time.
Voluntary home arrest?
So what should you do? Do you really have to sit at home all summer, limiting your access to the street, while the tick lives and reproduces? What the parasite is afraid of, we will find out a little later. Now a few general words about the methods of protection. So, today there are various remedies for ticks. All of them are based on chemistry and allow you to either scare off the parasite or destroy it.There are three types of effective tick repellents. The first includes repellents. The second is acaricidal substances. But the most effective remedies for ticks are combination drugs. They combine the beneficial properties of repellents and acaricides.
How to dress in the forest against ticks
In hot summer, you don't really want to put on a frock coat, pants made of thick fabric, mittens. But you do not need to do this either, you can choose clothes for the season made of thin fabric. The main rule is that there should be as few open spaces on the body as possible.
- Shirt, jacket with long sleeves, tight cuffs. Wear gloves if ambient temperature permits.
- Pants with cuffs, socks are required.
- On the head a panama, hat, cap, scarf. Or put on a hood.
On a note!
Once on the human body, the parasite simply examines the situation for 3 hours. If he does not find open areas of the body, he simply falls to the ground. Simple safety rules will allow you to fully enjoy nature and avoid tick bites.
What to do with the removed tick
When it is removed from the wound, it is placed in any container, for example, a jar along with a piece of damp cloth or cotton wool. For a maximum of 2 days, he must be taken to the laboratory to check for infection.
This will allow the virus to be detected at an early stage of infection and to avoid complications. If this is not possible, the bloodsucking must be burned. Be sure to monitor your health and go to the hospital for any symptoms.
Remember that the symptomatology manifests itself individually, each disease has its own manifestations. If you experience a rash, redness, fever, headache, weakness, body aches, be sure to go to the doctor.
Folk remedies
To know how to protect yourself from ticks in nature, you should study their weaknesses. Pests do not like pungent odors, do not attack people who do not smell of sweat. The People's Councils propose to carry out prophylaxis with certain odors.
- Going to the forest, meadow, river, you must first use an antiperspirant to eliminate the smell of sweat. However, the aroma should be neutral or absent altogether. Otherwise, the sweet notes of deodorant will attract mites even more.
- In Soviet times, the strong smell of cologne provided protection against ticks. Try to find something similar, or just use alcohol, vodka - spray it on your clothes.
- Essential oils are an effective remedy for the protection and prevention of ticks. Wards off pests citronella, lemon, lime, lavender, peppermint. Oils are allowed to be applied to open areas of the body, to saturate accessories. An oil-soaked ribbon or a string tied around the wrist or leg protects well against ticks. Collars are made in a similar way to protect pets.
Immediately after returning home, throw clothes in the wash, carefully examine the pets, comb the wool, take a shower. In this way, you can be warned against bites, dangerous diseases, even if the parasite managed to get on the body.
How do bloodsuckers attack a person or an animal?
The tick waits for its prey, climbing to the tip of a blade of grass or a branch of a bush, at a height of no more than half a meter. Having taken up his post, he stretches out the front legs, on which the olfactory organs are located, and wiggles them, moving from side to side. When a potential victim passes by, close enough, the bloodsucker attacks: it catches on the animal's hair or fibers of clothing. It holds very tightly, since its legs are equipped with claws and suction cups.
Both a person and an animal (wild or domestic) can become a victim of blood-sucking insects. It is impossible to catch the moment of the tick attack, since the insects are small, it is difficult to notice them on clothes. Few feel the movement of the bloodsucker on the skin.His bite is painless, since an anesthetic substance enters the human body with his saliva.
Quite a long time passes from the moment the bloodsucker gets on the clothes to the bite. A dangerous insect first gets on clothes, then looks for a way to human skin. Having reached an accessible area, he either digs in right away, or looks for a place where the skin is especially delicate (armpits, abdomen, chest, groin area), and sticks there.
A person discovers an ingested tick some time after the bite. As a rule, the insect has time to drink blood, which leads to an increase in the volume of its body. A person suddenly notices a growth on the skin that feels like a pimple or wart.
Special preparations - repellents
Aerosols for protection against ticks
Prevention of ticks with the right clothing remains the main rule, repellents increase the chances of staying safe. In order not to catch a tick in nature, it is necessary to pre-treat things with a special spray, aerosol, solution.
There is a wide range of products on sale. Sprays, aerosols of a wide spectrum of action help against many blood-sucking insects. Protective properties last from 4 to 8 hours. It is allowed to carry out 2 treatments per day. Sprays are used to treat clothes in the open air to a state of moisture. Put on after drying. Aerosols are allowed to be applied to open areas of the body.
On a note!
A safe line of products for children is produced separately. It is allowed to use from 1-3 years old. Effective means - Moskitoll, Off, Gardeks. The preparations smell good, protect for a maximum of 4 hours. Contraindication is individual intolerance to the components. When choosing the right product, you need to take into account the age of the child.
Effective remedies for the whole family:
- Taiga;
- Raid;
- Raptor;
- Off;
- Deta.
The price of a protective agent against ticks from 100 rubles. up to 350 rubles Spray from a distance of 20 cm from the treated surface. Avoid contact with eyes, mouth.
Effective recipes
| P / p No. | Name | Components | Volume | Manufacturing method |
| 1 | Wormwood broth | Wormwood leaves dry / fresh | 40 grams, 100 grams | Cut the grass very finely, add water, bring it to a boil. Cool the resulting broth to room temperature, spray on the animal's hair. |
| Water | 800 ml | |||
| 2 | Garlic broth | Garlic | 4-6 cloves | Crush the garlic or chop very finely, pour the mixture with water and leave for 8 hours. Wool is lubricated only on the back and withers. Otherwise, the animal will lick the mixture and be poisoned. |
| Water | 1200 ml | |||
| 3 | Soap made from essential oils and tar soap | Tar soap | 4 pieces | Grate the soap on a kitchen grater, mix with the resulting oil until a homogeneous consistency is obtained. |
| Essential oils: oregano; juniper; myrrh; thyme; grapefruit. | 4 drops each | |||
| 4 | Vanilla powder tincture | Vanillin powder | 4 grams | Infuse a mixture of vodka and vanillin for 7 days. Then grease the coat on the withers and back. |
| Vodka | 200 ml |
Heavy artillery - checkers
Smoke bombs from ticks
If you are going to have a rest in nature with an overnight stay, or if you plan to spend more than 5 hours, you can pre-prepare the area to prevent negative consequences. Special checkers against ticks operate within a radius of 250 square meters. They retain their protective properties for about 20 days. When a checker is set on fire, acrid smoke is emitted containing permethrin or another toxic component.
A preventive checker should be installed at a distance of 15 m from the intended resting place, arrive 2 days after the persecution of pests. Effective proven remedies - Quiet Evening, Fomor, Permethrin. The price of one checker is from 250 rubles.
Where and how to buy a Biostop suit
You can buy an anti-mite suit at the official online store.You can try on the antiencephalitis Biostop® in the showroom in Moscow or from official dealers, the list of which can be found on the website. Be careful with the purchase of a suit - with the beginning of the tick season, fraudulent sites are also activated, which, under the guise of Biostop®, sell ordinary overalls without protective properties.
You can buy a real anti-mite suit Biostop® on the official website and from dealers. The online store has delivery throughout Russia. You can get the suit by courier or pick it up from a pick-up point or checkpoint.
Useful tips - what not to do
There are situations when everything is done as the experts advise, but the result is not happy. What not to do:
- Apply repellent under sunscreen. Initially, you should treat the skin with sunscreen, wait 5 minutes, spray with a repellent.
- Too much spray. Moderate moisture is sufficient.
- Apply a spray, which is designed to treat things, directly on yourself or indoors. You should hang things on a clothesline, process, wait until dry.
- Use repellent only during a “smoke break”. In the process of movement, the tick is also able to climb onto the body, initially clinging to the victim's leg. To carry out the processing of clothes even before going to the forest, after 4-8 hours, several zips are reapplied to enhance the effect.
Special collars are put on the animals, drops are applied, and wool is sprayed. You should always carry repellents with you when going to nature. Pests can bite even while walking in a city park. To be safe from attacks, you must always remember about prevention. If the parasite managed to penetrate under the skin, you need to remove the tick: gently hook it with tweezers, twist it in a clockwise direction. Treat the skin with alcohol. It is recommended to take the tick for analysis to be sure that it was not a carrier of Lyme disease, encephalitis, ehrlichiosis.
