I just finished reading John Curry's Wilderness Writings in this month's Muzzleblasts and was curious if anybody's got a good period way of keeping the ticks and chiggers off? I can't find much on how old citronella oil is or if it'd would have been readily available on the frontier (it seems unlikely it would be).

my trekking buddy swears by this-- chew and swallow a clove of raw garlic every morning and night. Start a few days before your time in the woods and do it while in the woods...

I use Deet. Yep! in a little red plastic bottle. When I do not use Deet, I use small tweezers...

Raw garlic is just not my thing

Axe

Take it from a man who grew up in 'em and dealt with 'em in the most historically correct way there is. This has been handed down for generations on end. You get them before they get you. Pull 'em off and squish 'em 'twixt your two thumbnails. If they get you first them grab 'em by the hind end and pull 'em out. Then squish 'em 'twixt your two thumbnails. Don't bother about makin' 'em cough up any meat. A good load of 'em can keep you busy.

You'll learn to feel 'em crawlin'. Then you pounce. A tick crawls on you differently than anything else. Sometimes flatlanders think they feel 'em crawlin' but it's only their own hair raisin' for fear that a tick is crawlin'. But you can't learn this great secret by getting out there on weekends --- you have to live amongst 'em and beat 'em in their own habitat, like Boone 'mongst the Shawnees.

Another method is to just leave 'em alone. They'll finally swell up, turn blue, and fall off on their own. These are called "dog ticks."

'Tis great to free from 'ticknophobia'.

Haw! Haw! Haw!

Huntin'ticks'sticks

I hate them things. They must of come into being because of "The Fall!" I remember walking through some ankle length grass in North Dakaota once and found lots of them crawling all over me. Did I say I hate them!

'Sticks does the name of Ol' She Dog have anything to do with ticks? What is the story behind her name?

Sometimes you can't feel em crawlin on ya and sometimes they latch on in a place you can't see em. Best way to get rid of them sneeky ones is for married folks to get necked in the evenin before bedtime and have a tick inspection on each other. .....

'Churn,

That story must remain a secret for now. Y'see, I've got it written up and it's about ready to send to Publisher Bill. If he finds it fittin' for the magazine then the mystery will come out in the open. If he doesn't then I'll just have to bare my soul about how she got her name right here at the 'Fire.

As for ticks, us Ozarkians just love to watch other folks git mortified at 'em, and sometimes seein' comin' plumb unlimbered!

Fiddlesticks

Sticks, et al,
The only problem with leaving the little darlings alone, aside from fainting from lack of blood eventually, is a little thing called Lyme disease. Don't know what the latest poop on that is, but ticks are among the culprits, last I heard.
Out here in the Real Northwest, we don't have ticks that I know of... But I used to live in Minnesota. Man! Sometimes I could feel 'em crawling and successfully detach them. Other times, I was like the greenhorn who only THINKS I feel 'em crawling. Best not to drop ones pants to check, in some situations! Best preventative, really, is bind up your clothing so there are no entry points, like up your pants leg, etc. Or do without clothing, I suppose, but there's another problem...

Dick

The lyme disease and Rocky Mountain fever were my worries. I catch most of them but was hoping for added protection. I guess I'll stick with the DEET. Thanks!

I use a product that you spray on your clothes when you're not wearing them-can't recall the name of it, but it's in a gold can with a blue top..you don't put it on your skin, just your clothing..I've had ticks fall off dead or dying when they were crawling up my leggings(yep, sprayed it on braintan!!)..I'll look at the can tonite and get the name..it's not historically accurate, but I don't like ticks! When I was teaching at Scout camp in Arkansas, I'd pick 10+ ticks off every day, so this stuff did get the test and worked-wearing a clout and leggings just gives'em a few more places to latch on...if one does get attached, don't just pull it off-you can leave the head in your skin and this can cause some serious problems or death..lye soap will take'em off-just make a paste and cover'em with it..or a hot blade will make'em back out...Mitch

Sticks! ain't you the Virginia runaway? That have anything to do with the ticks?Okiefusilier you also asked about chiggers,now that is a complete study of it's own,I was hunting in Georgia one year,setting on the ground,in a pine forest waiting for a deer to come by,most of the day.The chiggers were most appreciative of this yankee's ignorance on the subject as were the sorry bunch of hound thieves,I did call friends,that I was hunting with.You don't pull those little red meat eaters off,they burrow it, so..... you paint them with fingernail polish to sufficate them.If you set on the pine needles all day,you will have them were you can't see to put the polish and some places you can see but just can't bring yourself to paint and you best trust the gang your with to do you right.That egg sucking,chicken thieving,hound hunting bunch of bisquit eaters I was with couldn't see through the tears,nor stop laughing and calling thier other friends on thier C/B's to share in the fun,they were having so much fun you'd have thought the won the possum eating contest at the local bar and grill.They did say later they weren't sorry cause it was so intertaining,but they did feel bad they hadn't help me put on the polish.
How to keep them off,don't go or like I did move to where they arn't,cause if thier there they will get eventually.

The spray in question is called "Permethrin" and it's probably nasty stuff--but I've used it too. Spray it on your clothes, not on your bod, and it's said to repel mosquitoes, ticks, etc. and kill them, too. Seems kind of mean!

As far as the finger-nail polish--what's your favorite color?

Dick

Fellers, the original intent of the question was is there a 'period way' to keep them off? Yup! Ketch 'em yourself!

If they leave the head in when you pull 'em out, no problem --- it'll fester up in a few days and you can squeeze the little booger's noggin out with the pus. "Period way", remember?

Haw! Haw! Haw!

Fiddlesticks

Sulfer will keep them away. I know this first hand.
So will Garlic but I don't believe it was around the states until the late 1800s.
Goldenseal was supposed to be used by the Cherokee. The rootstock was mixed up with Bear fat as a general insect repellant.
I believe I had rather pull the little buggers off myself than be covered with bear fat.

You guys won't believe this! I was teaching an evening course at the University tonight and low and behold I saw a nice big tick crawling on one of my student's head. I got the little booger and had a suprised but apprehensive student. Said he felt them crawling on him all night. No more on him though.

Growin' up with both ticks and chiggers I can attest to the effectiveness of 'sticks method for the ticks. Chiggers is 'nuther matter. Except for Permetherin, (good stuff whatever it is), catchin' an' kilin' is purty durn effective. I hate both of the little insects too.....and unfortunately we seem to be blessed with a bumper crop this year. Ain't seen no chiggers yet but the ticks is lousy. My lovely bride musta got into a nest of 'em last week. She stopped counting after she picked off about 20. Using NWTF's method I found some more on her.

Vic

OK guys, I think I'm going with the Permetherin since them darn ticks and chiggers don't care if I'm period correct or not.....I might try the garlic. Now what about poison oak or ivy, that stuff tears me up! I don't even have to touch it to get it....I just look at the stuff and I'm covered! The best cure for poison oak or ivy is sitting in the ocean all day....that salt water will dry it up quick! That's how we got rid of it when I was kid living in California way back when but I'm in Kansas now and adding sea salt to bath water just isn't as good.

I have a plant it's called a mosquito plant, smells just like citronila,I crush it up make a solar tea and soak my clothes in it let them dry, before I go fishing.Here in MAINE we don't have chiggers,we do have ticks but we have blackflies and noseems,horse/deer/moose flies.The only way to beat them is just that,beat them to a pulp.You put on bug spray and they come to dinner in swarms.The plant /natural stuff might pass as period correct,NESMUK writes about a formula in his book,pine pitch,pennyroyal,camphor mixed together.Old man lives here says to put kerosene on your pant cuffs,just don't get to close to the fire at night.
Deadeye! I have made a paste with oatmeal,like you were going to eat it but just a little thicker,and put that on the poison ivy/oak stops the itcha and dries it up,let it dry and then wash it off with hot soap and water,got that from a Navy Hospital Corpsman, works everytime.

Hey Crow...no kidding, oatmeal?! Just let it dry then wash it off huh? I don't know if I should walk around all covered from head to toe with Quaker Oats but I'd sure be busy picken all the raisens out of it.....LOL!

I'll try that next time I catch it...Thanks!

when a kid I used bleach---dabbed it on the poison oak rash and it dried it up...but now when i get it, I just leave it be---try not to scratch it.. it will go away after a few days. I figure that is porbably the most pc.

I hear baking soda paste helps sometimes too for the itchys from bug bites.

Axe

Ammonia applied to skeeter bites relieves the itch just don't scratch em first and break the skin...Yowwch