John, I mean you absolutely no disrespect when I ask you this, and I'm not calling your woodskills into question. That said, I have to ask if you're CERTAIN that what your finding are indeed ticks? I've run into this sort of discussion about ticks in NY when there didn't used to be any etc. from many different forums, from primitive archery to braintanning to you name it... and in the end, ALMOST invariably, regardless how heated the discussion becomes, it's actually insects (ticks have 8-legs and are classified arachnid, not insect) known as Siberian Deer Keds. Look them up... I've written long horror stories about my experiences with them, stories of my hunting experiences in CERTAIN parts of the Adirondacks and Tug Hill (they're not everywhere yet, thank GOD!!! But, DEC told me that it's just a matter of time) over the past 20 or so years.
Ticks are very small until after the blood meal, whereas keds are about the size of a small-ish housefly, rust to brown colored, and have SIX legs, and until after it lands on you, it also has a set or two of primitive wings. Those wings are not so great at flying, they're better suited for gliding - if they miss you the first time, they swing wide and come back after you gliding in from another direction (strangely reminiscent of a terrorist flying a jet). Once they (females only - go figure!!! LOL!) land on their host, one pair of legs is specially adapted to slice off their wings, much like an invading army burns their boats; no going back. Victory or death.
They can flatten-out against your skin so that your fingers cannot feel them when you occasionally reach to feel for something crawling on your neck, scalp, or other body areas (they prefer hair, and warmth, and seem to have an unholy affinity for the human groin area). The specialized feet at the ends of their legs have an almost anesthesia effect on the skin; you can barely feel them as they walk. It's much like the effect that leeches have with whatever it is that their mouthparts excrete to keep you from feeling them latch onto you. They even have the ability to utter small, quiet sqeaks, and they have a tenacious ability to cling even after a vigorous, soapy shower. I cannot count the number of times I used to wake up in a panic when one of them that was missed, after what I thought was a thorough search (even after said vigorous showering), would approach my ear canal in the dead of the night, giving that sound that I've come to fear. Man, I tell ya what - I'm glad no one ever videotaped one of those heebie-jeebie dances in the dark....
Funny, I'm not afraid of anything, except those little varmints. Especially when a horde of them comes at me in late fall (they prefer September and later, until the temps get and stay below 20*F or so; strangely, while other insect activity generally ceases below 40*F, these vermin stay active even when temps are 26*!!!) like a cloud approaching from the west, and the setting sun behind them lends an extra dose of the macabre to the scene...
They're extremely hard to kill. I have learned to leave my fingernails a little bit longer during this time of year, because nothing short of cutting them into pieces can stop them. And while I'm distracted with the frenetic dismembering process of one, up to 25 more have landed on me, shorn their wings, and begun that hideous, robotic shuffle to find what they're looking for... the Blood Meal.
Their bite, while scinetists insist are not known for the transference of any known disease, is VERY painful and can leave an itchy, painful, large, raised welt up to 2 inches long that lasts up to 3 months or more. They don't want you to forget them any time soon, it would seem. I suppose that's what it must feel like to break up with a psycho ex-girlfriend? Who knows...
Another thing -- I have tried virtually every type and brand of repellant out there, as well as a few of my own tried and true concoctions, and the verdict is in: Nothing works. Period. I'll say it again, NOTHING works at repelling the little rat bastids. I've had to leave deer hides in garbage bags fumigated with any number of insect killers, for several days, sealed, and even then once in awhile there will still be one or more crawling around.
Whenever I get a deer in an area that I KNOW has been infested with keds, I skin it before I transport it home because I do not want to bring them back to my home area. Unfortunately, I don't know of any other hunters that take this precaution, and it is as the DEC says: "It's only a matter of time..."
Okay, well that's all for now, I'm sure that at least one or more readers will think that I've made some of this up but the truth is, not only have I NOT exaggerated a single thing, I have held back a LOT... These things can cause nightmares, and I'm not even CLOSE to being germaphobic, or any other sort of phobic... but these things.... bbbrrrr!!!
