A little advice please.TICKS

[guardpig]

Now I live in a City on the edge of the New Forest.  As a result every doctors surgery has leaflets warning of the dangers of tick bites, how to remove said ticks, how to prevent getting bitten and symptoms to watch for afterwards.  The leaflets are produced, naturally enough, by the New forest District council.  The main preventative method is to cover yourself as much as possible with the appropriate clothing.  Fsir enough, it's a trade off.

However:

Our Council has stopped cutting the grass except where they have to. This has happened over the last couple of years.  Daughter has moved into a Council flat in a tower block on an estate just up from the beach.  There are play and relaxing areas between the blocks which could be quite nice but the grass is knee height. There is a pathway to the beach across what used to be a large grassed area full of kids playing but is now above knee height grass with nettles and brambles getting a nice hold along the sides of the pathway. Then there is the beach which used to have the odd green growth area on it but, yes you've guessed, is rather overgrown in places and looks a right mess.

My daughter went to the drop in centre with a tick still wriggling in her arm last night.  A fortnight ago my little grand daughter also had a tick in her scalp. 

They had been no farther than the beach.  

Now daughter could strap Sproglet firmly in her buggy and not allow her out until they reached the play area.  Once there she could prevent her from playing on the beach or kicking her ball.  She could keep herself and the child covered completely when out side. BUT why should she?  Isn't a toddler allowed to explore and learn?

Bear in mind that on the way to the drop in centre we went past another of our large council estates and the grass areas had been cut and were being regularly cut.

As I said we live in a city, ticks are not something we would normally be concerned about - the odd murder, mugging and anti social behaviour is our norm!. She doesn't do wriggling things anyway, has read the leaflet and is worried about taking her daughter to the beach or play area.

Do you think she should be complaining?  

[kiss*my*pixel]

We have had a little experience with ticks in the past with various children - a good slathering of petroleum jelly (*Vaseline*, other makes may be available!) over the little blighter should do the trick, as long as you catch it early. They usually pop back out, as their little leggies get greasy and can't grip.

We do need the hedgerows for the necessary buglife.

[10phizz]

I read about the Vaseline remedy somewhere......it said they breathe through holes along their sides and that stops them breathing and they take their heads out of the host.

[lhasa.two]

I would certainly speak with someone in Environmental Health at the council and urge them to find out from the Parks and Gardens people why this patch of grass has been missed for cutting. The reality is the budgets have been cut hard in some departments and it's beginning to show. It may be that they are going to cut this grass but have cut down on the number of times they'll be doing it. That's certainly happened in the area where I live.

As for ticks, I always found a cotton wool bud dipped in some Gin did the trick both on humans and the dog!

[stampingpat]

Hey all, Honest don't do that with the ticks, vaseline and gin. We have been told that if you do that sort of thing to the ticks they then regurgitate(vomit) the contents of their stomachs back into their host(child, dog, human). This then spreads diseases, viruses and bacteria. The newest way on removing the ticks is via either the Lasso method and twist or the Tom O Ticks hooks that you hook around the head and then twist. Then you can dispose of the tick. I put them into a jam jar of oil, others smash them. But be careful you dont get the contents of the tick on you. Doing it the old way can cause infections and illness.

[*elphaba*]

Gp,  councils are increasingly being encouraged to leave verges etc alone except where it causes obstruction, because they are so important to our wildlife and the act of strimming/mowing is responsible for too many hedgehog deaths. 

Long grass is one of the less common habitats to find because where there is grass most people mow it, but its hugely important for all sorts of our best loved creatures.  I have a patch of long grass in my garden left specially. 

Having said that, it sounds like the path to the beach at the very least needs opening up by strip mowing a path.  Perhaps the residents could sign a letter to the council suggesting just that? 

Long grass that has to be walked through to get to somewhere can be a hazard because it can conceal litter/glass/cans and that angle could be used as power to your elbow.  It sounds like a happy medium needs to be reached between the needs of the wildlife, cost of mowing, and the needs of the human residents.

Good luck