Author Topic: Bambie almost killed me  (Read 15432 times)

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petect

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Bambie almost killed me
« on: July 15, 2015, 04:01:34 PM »

HI all
A while back I noticed a tick embedded in an armpit. It had been there for a while. I pulled / scraped it out and felt fine for a couple of days. A few days later a delivery driver found me passed out on my driveway. I spent 6 days in the hospital. I'm feeling much better now and still recovering.

Now, I'm on mission to cut down on the number of deer that come into my yard. I'm going to try a variety of things, but would like to try to put together some simple devices that use a passive motion sensor, strobe light, and a cheap speaker to make some noise. I think just static would work. Since these things won't use much power, I think a small p.v. cell and a small super cap might be adequate, and make them portable. The ability to switch from light to sound and both would help, as deer get accustomed to “new” things fairly quickly. I'm sure I have some 1/8” plugs and jacks around.
Some possible parts I found on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Accessory-12V-2LED-Strobe-Light-Emergency-Warning-Flash-Controller-Special-/151576771473?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234aadfb91

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Automatic-DC-12V-24V-8A-Infrared-PIR-Motion-Sensor-Switch-For-LED-light-Hottest/131326713631?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D32299%26meid%3Daa531f9b035e426281e60446a7d8e1fa%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D181662991502&rt=nc

I've been following this board long enough to know to know that doing something like this isn't much of a challenge, but I would really appreciate any help I can get.

MODERATORS I'm not sure where to post this, so please feel free to move it.

Thanks in advance
Pete

thirteen

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2015, 04:28:58 PM »
Motion sensor tied to a sprinkler might do something and hang a few bells in the bushes so the water will ring them. Outside dog. Venison steaks and summer assuage if you are a hunter! 13
MntMnROY 13

madlabs

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2015, 05:01:04 PM »
I live in a tick infested rural area. Feel free to reduce the deer count by any means necessary, they are a pain in the behind in many ways. Tasty too. But to reduce your tick count you might want to look at reducing tall grass and other areas they like to inhabit when not sucking blood. Around here they like Ceanothus bushes, also called tick bush. Ticks go for wood rats etc as well as deer. They hang out in these places waiting for a victim to walk by.

Hate ticks. Luckily for me I have a pretty extreme reaction to them and they never get dug in on me.

JOnathan

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2015, 12:35:29 PM »
Flea collar ?
WILD in ALASKA

DanG

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2015, 09:35:25 AM »
There are stages to the life cycle of ticks that can be exploited as the weakest link in reducing an areas population.

There has to be soft-skinned mammal hosts for the progression of nymph stages to successfully result in the adult tick that feeds off big mammals.

It's during those multiple feedings, three or five or more, while maturing that they can pick up infectious diseases.

So - birds, mice, ground squirrels, rabbits... providing nesting material imbued with a pyrethrin-based insecticides (cloth/cotton balls in paper towel tubes is a start) or adding diatomaceous earth to an areas' dust-bath spots, spraying nest sites and/or having a way to get game to pick up dusting or drench effect at bait stations...

Sure it is not a perfect cure but in a couple of summers it can drastically reduce the adult tick population.


Frank S

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2015, 01:27:40 PM »
never pull a tick off by its body the pincers  and the head will remain in the skin. Puff up a cigarette until the end is hot then touch that to the tick  it will release its hold and fall off for those who don't smoke use a lighter to heat up the tip of a sharp pointed pocket knife then use that like the fire of the cigarette. for those who neither smoke or carry a survival lighter or a pocket knife  you're on your own on how to make something hot.
 I've been in areas so infested with ticks that you had to brush them off your clothes every few dozen yards I traveled. long sleeve shirts and tying a shoe lace around your pants cuff to your boots helped. also we found that in the jungles  the  absence of, or very closely trimming of all body hair helped 
I live so far outside of the box, when I die they will stretch my carcass over the coffin

Bruce S

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2015, 03:18:53 PM »
IF you have it available WinterGreen rubbing alcohol works instead of fire.
1 summer while rescuing an old Beetle bug car,   I had enough seed ticks on my right foot , it looked like someone poured black pepper on it.
I was not about to put fire on my entire foot, and I don't smoke . The WinterGreen stuff made them release and I did the rest with a basin of about 2 inches of water.

A kind word often goes unsaid BUT never goes unheard

petect

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2015, 09:18:26 AM »
Thanks for the suggestions.
I would REALLY appreciate any help / pointers that will help me to make and try out a gadget similar to what I described in my original post. It seems to me that it could be done fairly easily and cheaply.
Thanks
Pete

madlabs

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2015, 01:20:46 PM »
Pete,

I made a racoon scaring device for my sister's coy pond. You can start with a motion sensor light switch. If the strobe or other device is 120VAC you can just screw an outlet into the light socket. If it is DC you can plug a wall wart in. They also make water sprayers that are motion activated. Once you have some hardware we can help more with a specific hack.

Jonathan


madlabs

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2015, 04:14:29 PM »
Pete,

The motion sensor looks perfect. Make sure of what the output current is and how much your load draws, may need a relay in there. Super caps are super expensive for the amount of storage and you must NEVER over volt them, not even by a little. I would imagine the strobe would draw any reasonable sized bank of super caps down pretty quick. A small AGM battery might be the way to go if you want it portable.

Sounds like you are on your way!

Jonathan

XeonPony

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2015, 04:21:53 PM »
NEVER use heat to remove a tick, they puke out into you while releasing ensuring you get any pathogen they're carrying!

best is use a pair of needle clamps and take the skin around it with it! push down grip and twist and pull.

As suggested use a permethrin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin anti tick pesticide, spray cotton and pack it where mice will grab it, this has a huge effect.

and as for keeping deer out there are tons of remedies out there commercially
Ignorance is not bliss, You may not know there is a semie behind you but you'll still be a hood ornimant!

Nothing fails like prayer, Two hands clasped in work will achieve more in a minute then a billion will in a melenia in prayer. In other words go out and do some real good by helping!

PNW_Steve

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2016, 09:02:14 PM »
I know your question was "how to keep the deer out" but I thought that this may be helpful:

I have read that keeping chickens in your yard will reduce the number of ticks significantly. According to some, chickens are aggressive tick eaters.

Take a look at: http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/raising-chickens-and-poultry-for-home-pest-control.aspx

As far as reducing the problem at the source I prefer a Ruger M77 in .243 Winchester. When used in conjunction with a chest freezer they can be very effective. :)





petect

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2016, 10:34:27 AM »
Hi Steve
Thanks for your reply. I'm often surprised to see that I'm not the only one who reads old posts.

A brief continuation of the tick saga - the idiots (they call themselves doctors) at the hospital completely misdiagnosed the problem and gave me an antibiotic that knocked down the infection, but didn't knock it out. The infection came back much worse than before. The doc at a walk-in clinic I managed to get to figured it out and gave me the right stuff which did the trick. It wasn't a great summer.

I've been thinking about getting some chickens for just the reason you mentioned - any eggs would be a bonus. A friend got some last summer. I'll see how he makes out.  I do think that trying to cut down on the tick population is going to be a big part of the answer. There are way too many deer in the area to think that thinning the heard will do much. Also, there are a hell of a lot of mice (the most likely source of the tick that got me ) around here.

So, I'll be keeping the grass cut lower, experimenting with motion detectors, and some "deer fencing" ideas I've tried and seem to have some merit.

Hey - BTW I've seen your hydro posts. That a PRETTY stream. If it was on my property I'd be up nights trying to find a way to get some Watts out of it - hope you come up with a solution.
Pete 

MattM

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2016, 01:23:39 PM »
Just don't use permithrin-derived sprays around birds or fish.  Their immune systems cannot handle them well.

petect

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2016, 04:20:55 PM »
Matt
I'm with you 100% on that. I spray a little pyrethrin on my boots and the cuffs of my jeans only.
I'd love to put out a bunch of poison mouse baits and maybe put a little dent in the population, but i'm sure that would be bad for any predators that fed on the dead mice.
I've been tossing the "customers" I find in my snap traps in one general area and they disappear over night. This morning  i saw fresh tracks of the bobcat that dug my latest offerings out of the snow. He / she has been dining well thanks to all the "customers" I've left out. If I can get my trail cam working I should be able to get some pix of a chubby kitty.
Pete

MattM

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2016, 01:03:23 AM »
That's good judgement, keeping them sprays to human zones away from innocent wildlife.  I like the wildlife even if I'm far from a tree hugger.  Doing things like using 1-3 foot wide perimeter sprays around the house, and perpendicularly up the wall from ground level will catch 95% of your creepy crawlies at even your lowest mix levels.  It's never bulletproof, but that's absolutely no reason to poison everyone and everything trying to get that last .01%

Mary B

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2016, 04:30:36 PM »
Permethrin based insecticides are also deadly poison to cats!

XeonPony

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #18 on: February 28, 2016, 12:51:38 PM »
Permethrin based insecticides are also deadly poison to cats!

That's why I don't have cats ;) That and a pain to clean up engine compartments in winter!

Again for mice, treating cotton balls with it then placing it where mice can get them for their nests is a way to but a very large dent in tick populations as the mice become mobile tick killing machines. This is used by enviromental agencies and cities.

You need very small amounts of it to the level it does not pose a risk to birds and such. I am not looking forward to summer as they are horrorendus here, mind you I been stock piling card board tubes to place the permitherin traps around my area, So with luck I'll stamp em down befor they can even start!
Ignorance is not bliss, You may not know there is a semie behind you but you'll still be a hood ornimant!

Nothing fails like prayer, Two hands clasped in work will achieve more in a minute then a billion will in a melenia in prayer. In other words go out and do some real good by helping!

Frank S

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #19 on: February 28, 2016, 07:32:28 PM »
Keep the grass cut to almost scalped height for the first and only cutting of the year pull your sprinklers out of the ground prey for no rain, as soon as the grass turns brown set it on fire if there is not enough grass to completely turn the ground black spray some flammable liquids on it. When the grass starts to grow again after the next rain it will be much greener and have far fewer pest
I live so far outside of the box, when I die they will stretch my carcass over the coffin

petect

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #20 on: February 28, 2016, 09:05:56 PM »
Mary
I'm very careful when using any chemicals to avoid injuring any animals - mice excepetd.

XP
I'm planning to do that. I have some scrap 2" dia.pvc pipe I'm going to cut into about 6" lengths lengths and fill with some fabric stuffing sprayed with permethrin. I'm hoping to find some that is red, or some other non-natural color so it might help me spot some of their nests. The mice ate a bunch of holes in an expensive boat cover I had hanging in my metal "boat house". The little bastards must have magnets in their feet!

Frank
I'm sure that burning the grass would help a lot, but my yard is surrounded by woods on all sides. If the grass fire got into the woods it wouldn't be pretty.

I'm going to get some chickens (free ranging)  and see how much of a dent they put in the tick population. That should be interesting as I'm sure they will immediately catch the attention of the hawk and owl that are almost daily visitors to my yard.
Thanks to all for the suggestions.
Pete
 

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2016, 10:16:00 AM »
Chickens are probably the best and easiest solution for the ticks,
and they provide side benefits of eggs and meat.

As for the mice .....
I use a "farmers" mouse trap at my cabin in the woods.

5 gallon bucket with a few inches of of liquid in the bottom.
Small plastic water bottle with a hole in the cap and the bottom suspended across the opening by a wire.
Put some peanut butter on the outside of the bottle.
Tape a "runway" board from one edge to the ground so they can get to the top.

Once at the top they jump to the bottle, which spins, and they fall into the bucket.
I use antifreeze as the liquid. This prevents them from stinking up the cabin while I am gone for weeks.
Not sure how good this will work outside, but it works great inside.

Hope this helps

MattM

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #22 on: October 26, 2016, 09:44:52 PM »
Beautiful idea

Ungrounded Lightning Rod

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2016, 10:21:02 PM »
To keep bambi out erect TWO tall perimeter fences about 6 feet apart.

Bambi will jump one fence - even if it's like 12 feet high.  But he doesn't want to jump in between two of them, apparently for fear of becoming trapped between them, or at least slowed down in escape if there's a predator hanging out in there.

(Or at least that's what they tell me.)

My wife and I are raising Bantom Dominique chickens - part of a project to keep them from becoming extinct and/or repopularize them.  VERY friendly, very busy.  Little guys (about 1/5th the weight of a normal-size Dominique or other "large (i.e. normal sized) fowl").  Eat only about 2 oz of feed per day.

(Pretty much NO chickens can subsist on foraging, except in food-filled areas like Key West.  They've been bred for laying so many eggs that they can't scrounge up enough to eat from the wild to make up the loss and need a supplemental food source.)

Crockel

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2022, 12:05:43 AM »
Sorry for replying to an old topic, by I had to add my two bits regarding ticks and deer.

I used to live in Kansas where ticks were bad. We had a little plastic spoon like tool for prying them out. After a few uses, I considered it a better invention than the wheel.

As for keeping deer away, I would urinate on the deer paths leading into the yard every time after it rains. It didn't take long before they stopped raiding my garden. I used to also urinate a few times in the late summer around the neighbor's deer blind that was too close to my property.

SparWeb

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Re: Bambie almost killed me
« Reply #25 on: May 25, 2022, 12:44:14 AM »
"I used to also urinate a few times in the late summer around the neighbor's deer blind that was too close to my property."
LOL

Every evening I walk the dogs out the driveway and around a path about the house, which makes for a regularly marked territory.  Keeps the coyotes out of the yard but the deer do continue to wander through.  Maybe I should take "matters" into my own hands!
Well I can see if the spirit moves me, right now as the dogs remind me it's time to go, presently.
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