Fleas & Ticks?!?

[WhiskeyFist666]

I understand that before the festival Wacken is used for raising cattle and livestock. Has anybody experienced any problems with parasites? Should I take insect repellant? I wouldn't want to wake up with a giant tick sucking on my testies.

 

[Sipyloidea]

I understand that before the festival Wacken is used for raising cattle and livestock. Has anybody experienced any problems with parasites? Should I take insect repellant? I wouldn't want to wake up with a giant tick sucking on my testies.

Well, in Wacken I haven't experienced that yet. The only thing creeping around at those fields at the moment are little black spiders. They're gonna inweb the whole entry of your tent. They're harmless though.

I've had one tick now at Dong one week ago. But that camping ground was "wilder" than the Wacken one's. Just take a tweezers with you so you could pull the tick out, if you got one.

And nevermind, the ticks in northern Germany are mostly harmless. Those bad, infecting thingies mostly creep around in the south of Germania

 

[cwes]

I understand that before the festival Wacken is used for raising cattle and livestock. Has anybody experienced any problems with parasites? Should I take insect repellant? I wouldn't want to wake up with a giant tick sucking on my testies.

I had these thoughts before my first WOA. They proved to be unsubstantial. I had no encounter with parasites, not even mosquitos.

I'll still bring a good amount of DEET and tweezers, though.

Do not lie in tall grass. Check your legs after you've walked through tall grass barelegged.

Should you still catch a tick (they are quite small) just go to the medics. I am sure they will be very willing to remove it for you. They will also instruct you, what symptons to look out for during the next weeks.

 

[cwes]

And nevermind, the ticks in northern Germany are mostly harmless.

This. IFF you catch a tick, you wanna catch it in Northern Germany.

 

[Sipyloidea]

This. IFF you catch a tick, you wanna catch it in Northern Germany.

Right If any animal "gets" you, you want that to happen in northern Germany Can't think of any really serious "armed" animal around here

And btw. about the symptoms: You need to check a tick bite for the next few days, if some red circle appears aro und the bite. I mean it will be some read anyways, like a mosquito-bite is normal. But like a big red circle around you should get a doctor:

 

[Sipyloidea]

Right If any animal "gets" you, you want that to happen in northern Germany Can't think of any really serious "armed" animal around here

And btw. about the symptoms: You need to check a tick bite for the next few days, if some red circle appears aro und the bite. I mean it will be some read anyways, like a mosquito-bite is normal. But like a big red circle around you should get a doctor:

sorry, need to do a double post for this, because my last post was bugged:

like this: see a doctor

 

[Canuck]

I've never even heard of anyone getting ticks at Wacken. I suppose the best thing would be to just wear army pants or jeans instead of shorts. Not many insects can get through those.

 

[Sipyloidea]

I've never even heard of anyone getting ticks at Wacken. I suppose the best thing would be to just wear army pants or jeans instead of shorts. Not many insects can get through those.

or if you don't hit high gras anyways, you'll be ok with boots already. However, I haven't heard of that either.

 

[Canuck]

or if you don't hit high gras anyways, you'll be ok with boots already. However, I haven't heard of that either.

Makes me wonder if they'll be putting hay down again, since it looks like it may rain. Probably more "at risk" (if there is even a risk) in hay/in a hay fight than anywhere else around the grounds. But I think they said they were somehow prepping the grounds this year to avoid the kind of mud we had last year...though in a way I kind of hope they do put down hay again, because those hay fights were fucking awesome!

 

[cwes]

And btw. about the symptoms: You need to check a tick bite for the next few days, if some red circle appears aro und the bite.

If by "few days" you mean "around three months" then you are right.

 

[Solskinn Av Natten]

sorry, need to do a double post for this, because my last post was bugged:

like this: see a doctor

Ugh That is a very unpleasant-looking photo!

I don't think I've ever had a tick bite me, and I don't want to find out. But I'll probably be wearing shorts, or a skirt, if it's hot (tall boots though, as well). Does insect repellent work on ticks? I should hope so...

 

[cwes]

Does insect repellent work on ticks?

DEET does work. You'll decrease the chance of being bitten. Unfortunately it's not very reliable against ticks and you need to refresh every 2-4 hours. The damage done to your skin by the amount of DEET needed during the four days should outweigh the expected damage done by an unlikely tick bite.

DEET is the only repellent that has some reliability against ticks. Don't bother asking for more harmless stuff.

 

[Solskinn Av Natten]

DEET does work. You'll decrease the chance of being bitten. Unfortunately it's not very reliable against ticks and you need to refresh every 2-4 hours. The damage done to your skin by the amount of DEET needed during the four days should outweigh the expected damage done by an unlikely tick bite.

DEET is the only repellent that has some reliability against ticks. Don't bother asking for more harmless stuff.

I just looked it up on Wikipedia. Thanks, this is pretty interesting stuff that I've never heard before:

"DEET is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents. ... In particular, DEET protects against tick bites (which transmit Lyme disease, several rickettsioses, tick-borne meningoencephalitis and other tick-borne diseases) and mosquito bites (which transmit dengue fever, West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and malaria).

DEET was developed by the United States Army, following its experience of jungle warfare during World War II. ... Originally tested as a pesticide on farm fields confused: and now we put this on our skin!), the US Government applied it for war time usage, particularly when in Vietnam and around that region of Asia.

DEET is believed to work by blocking insect olfactory receptors for 1-octen-3-ol, a volatile substance that is contained in human sweat and breath. DEET effectively "blinds" the insect's senses so that the biting/feeding instinct is not triggered by humans or animals which produce these chemicals."​

So basically, it will make me 'invisible' to insects! They won't even know I'm there

 

[Lady_Wolf]

Sipy, you obviously did not see where I camped in 2006...

the grass came to my ankles, and there was a big cow pie underneath our tent (thanks dad, for that bubble wrap as extra layer)

 

[Solskinn Av Natten]

And THIS is how small they are. They also jump! Ick!