[Durbs]

Wasps eat damaging insects on a significant scale I believe.
Jellyfish feed turtles?
Midges can get fucked though.

Wasps pollinate a heck of a lot of flowers apparently, and control some pests... Can still do one though.

[Coops_13]

Gorse burns nicely though! Jellyfish don’t

You clearly weren't using enough napalm.

Sea lice as in the ones that hide in cracks, or ones that live in the water? I've had the ones on the rocks fall down my shirt when climbing, not sure they bite but scratched about like hell and were pretty distracting.

They're in the tropics, and live in the top metre or so of the sea. I experienced them roughly 9 years old in Malaysia. They got into my swim trunks and I had to make a mad dash onto the beach to find a shower to get rid of them. A burning sensation I couldn't describe 

[SA Chris]

Yikes!

[Coops_13]

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/Debunking_the_Sea_Lice_Myth#:~:text=Sea%20lice%20are%20actually%20fish,the%20thimble%20jellyfish%2C%20Linuche%20unguiculata.

Well I stand corrected - the little bastards may have been jellies (larvae) after all!

[Duma]

I know its not the peak, but a friend of mine appears to have finally (he's very tasty to ticks so often suffers bites) caught Lymes, from a bite in cheddar last week. He's on the antibiotics so fingers crossed the early diagnosis and treatment will spare him the the long term effects, but be careful out there, even down south.

[Fultonius]

Growing up I spent most my life out in the countryside and don't remember once hearing of, being warned about, or encountering ticks. Ditto all my years climbing in the Peak. Is this a new phenomenon, and if so why?

They used to dip sheep with really toxic shit, which they don't any more. That and the deer - but most UK ticks are "sheep" ticks (not that they only feed on sheep).

[battery]

Hate the little bastards.

They seem to exist in that special category of creature - also including wasps, midges, and jellyfish - whose sole purpose is to make life much more miserable without adding any ecological benefit. But perhaps I'm missing out on all the great things they do?

I genuinely don't mind tics these days, think I just got really used to them when living in Scotland. Had hundreds on me over the years and been bitten a good few times but fortunately never had any issues.

A day out in a tic infested place, I just take precautions and do a good check when we're done. Midges on the other can easily ruin my day, they truly are little f***ers.

I accept that I would probably feel differently if I had contacted anything.

[Snoops]

I thought ticks were predominantly a scotland / wales / lakes thing! I've been out and about in the Peak for around 10 years now and can't remember ever getting tick-ed in the peak. I often do a casual check for ticks out of habit but will be much more careful from now on. Thanks for bringing this up JB.

My +1, of places I've been in the peak since lockdown ended that involved some bushwacking: houndkirk, tintwhistle, stanage area, curbar area and baslow area. Saw deer at tintwhistle, have seen deer in the curbar woods in previous years. no ticks.

Second this post, have been fell running in Peak for 20 years mostly running off paths...never been ticked.
Only place I’ve had then is eskdale and new forest.

Will keep an eye.

[Johnny Brown]

Had another up on Howden moor last week, a big 'un for a change. I had been thrashing through the heather a bit.

[galpinos]

Stay Lyme free till 2025 then it's all gravy......

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250045-lyme-disease-vaccine-found-to-be-safe-and-effective-in-clinical-trial/

[SA Chris]

Just Tick Borne Encephalitis and Rocky Mountain Fever to worry about!

Vaccine can't come too soon, wife is morbidly paranoid about kids going anywhere near long any high grass or bracken.

[Andy B]

We spent a full day on Helman Tor yesterday and didn’t see a single tick.
This morning I picked up a slow worm to show our little boy, and a few minutes later we realised that we were covered in ticks. At least a dozen on one of my wife’s feet alone. About half a dozen on me and a few on our little boy.

[mrjonathanr]

Anyone used permethrin on clothes? Successfully/not? Just bought some of this stuff to try out: https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/insect-repellents/ex4-anti-mosquito-spray

[Bradders]

Anyone used permethrin on clothes? Successfully/not? Just bought some of this stuff to try out: https://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/insect-repellents/ex4-anti-mosquito-spray

I've used max strength jungle formula with DEET on my clothes before when going to a known tick hotspot. Definitely felt like it slowed them down at least and potentially prevented some staying on my trousers for long.

[SA Chris]

I get it's not the best clear cut science (as Slackers would point out) but I used to have a pair of the Craghoppers Nosilife trousers which are apparently treated with permethrin, and never got a tick on me while wearing them....

[Serpico]

Just Tick Borne Encephalitis and Rocky Mountain Fever to worry about!

And babesiosis:
BBC News - First England case diagnosed of tick-borne babesiosis
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53613459

[bigironhorse]

Just Tick Borne Encephalitis and Rocky Mountain Fever to worry about!

And babesiosis:
BBC News - First England case diagnosed of tick-borne babesiosis
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53613459

I think there is a vaccine for TBE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick-borne_encephalitis_vaccine

[SA Chris]

Probably not free on NHS though..

[Ru]

You can get the TBE vaccine through travel clinics - costs about £40. You need 2 or 3 a few months apart to get immunity, then a booster every few years. I got them a few years ago, but haven't kept up with the boosters after a couple of people I know had reactions to them at the injection site (swelling/itching/redness) that still bother them 10-ish years later. Apparently it's a known side effect/complication of that vaccine. I'm not sure if there are other TBE vaccines without that issue.

[bigironhorse]

I had it in Austria (called FSME but I think it is the same thing) it was two doses about 3-4 weeks apart.

I cannot wait for the Lyme vaccine, its absolutely crawling with ticks over here, must have had 30-40 bites this year. Apparently 20% carry Lyme in my area but I think 50% carry some kind of pathogen that can be transferred to humans. I wonder if there is some way to volunteer for the next trial as someone with a high risk of getting it.

[jshaw]

Not Peak, but more to bump this thread and make others aware.

Still haven't found ticks on me after climbing in the peak but had been bitten by 2 after bouldering nr Llyn Gwynant a couple of weekends ago.

Tend to check before heading home and then again after arriving home.

A couple of days later, I found another fcuker on a spot I'd thoroughly checked, twice.

Removed OK and monitoring but makes me wonder how many I've probably missed over the years.

It had probably ridden home on my pads, or clothes.

Does anyone do anything in particular to kill them off from clothes worn while bashing about in areas known to have a lot of ticks?

[mrjonathanr]

I have started using the permethrin i linked to above ^^. No ticks yet. Mind you, i haven't been out that much since so it's early to comment on effectiveness.

[andy_e]

I've had one in a month on Skye, and not through avoiding tick territory. One more spotted on my jeans shortly after some heather-bashing. Maybe they just don't like me?

[jshaw]

I've had one in a month on Skye, and not through avoiding tick territory. One more spotted on my jeans shortly after some heather-bashing. Maybe they just don't like me?

This is kinda how I felt until this year. A friend got Lymes which made me think a bit more about it. I've been out a fair amount since lockdown and these I the first 3 I've seen this year, and first bite I've ever knowingly had. Like you, I don't avoid tick-y areas.

Probably had more, but just didn't look well enough.

[jshaw]

I have started using the permethrin i linked to above ^^. No ticks yet. Mind you, i haven't been out that much since so it's early to comment on effectiveness.

Awesome, thanks. I'll take a look.