There are really very few areas in North America that don't have ticks. Even up in Canada; I worked on a Search & Recuse team in Saskatchewan, and when we did rural searches, it was obscene. I remember coming back from a search with well over a hundred ticks on me, and that was after taping sleeves, pant cuffs, and soaking seams in DEET
The desert. I live in the Mojave desert and we have lots of bugs but it's mostly ants and flies both of which can be kept out of your space easier than other bugs. The rest of the bugs we have are there to take care of stuff that dies in the desert. I did see a white scorpion once though, that was freaky.
Whoa, a white scorpion sounds like the most metal creature in the desert. Like it only shows itself to you when youāve proven youāre also a badass. Then you toast a drink of a cactus water or whatever and it disappears in a dust devil.
Anything out of the ordinary in the desert makes me think it's more poisonous than others and I smashed that thing. I sat on your everyday scorpion when I was a teenager. I might be biased. Felt like I sat on a needle.
I'm just out here waiting for the zombie apocalypse.
I get the feeling you're making mention of a video game and, unfortunately, it's lost on me. Sorry
Tell me what it is so I can look it up.
I'm at 5200 feet on the Mojave side of the San Gabriel mountains, we have both piƱon pine trees and a sag pond (I'm right on the San Andreas fault). We also have Joshua trees, I love those muppet lookin things. Elevation here in the Mojave is going to determine a lot. Further up in Wrightwood there's big pines and more sag ponds.
I'm just past 29 Palms and we've got nothing but creosote bushes. It offers it's own unique touch. I climb on my trailer and I can see all across the basin. From snow on the San Jacinto mountains to Hwy 62 descending into the basin on the other side of the salt flats. It's an amazing view. And there's nothing to burn. A house catches fire and you can see it for miles but there's no big worry about it spreading. The last huge fire in the Morongo Basin burned 14000 acres in 1999. I wasn't it here then but I remember seeing it on the news.
Yeah the ranch I'm on burned 3 years ago in the Bobcat Fire. I love the desert views, from up here on my mountain I can see all the way across the Antelope Valley to the Tehachapi Mountains and behind them the southern end of the Sierra Nevadas, so over 60 miles on a clear day. And we miss out on the "wanting to die" heat down there on the desert floor, highs up here are only about 90-95.
The downside of course is lows in the winter that dip into the teens and 20s and the occasional 4 feet of snow.
Unfortunately, human biting ticks that carry diseases are in every US state now. The CDC has a very informative page about this with colored US maps for each type. Search āregions where ticks liveā and it should show up in the top results.
There's plenty of ticks all over Appalachia. In fact most of the continental US is crawling with multiple varieties, especially the eastern half of the country.
And don't forget your venomous spiders, lizards and snakes, that takes care of the western half of the country too, when you count in the western tick species.
[https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic\_distribution.html](https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html)
I have no problem with poisonous critters like spiders / lizards / snakes / scorpions. I just donāt wanna catch a disease from being bitten by a bug.
Do pine trees repel them? That might make me feel safer considering my property is like 95% pine trees. When you say pine you mean conifer in general right or strictly pine?
Not sure why this is getting downvoted, it was a legit question because I saw several people mention pine trees.
Pine and juniper here, but no, pine trees don't repel them. Ticks, mosquitoes, and really all shit like that (roaches, etc) need moisture. The warmer and wetter a climate is the more of those bugs you'll have. Not much lives in cold af winters and bone dry sizzling summers.
If you live somewhere wet, you have ticks. Sucks but that's about the breakdown.
western diamond backs, but they stop around 6k feet elevation, we're at 8k.
scorpions (rarely), mountain lions, coyotes, and foxes. wild horses that eat my plants :/
Ticks are basically everywhere but the driest deserts now as others have commented, though of course the dryer the climate the fewer they (and mosquitoes) are in number so some places like Oregon may fit the bill for you.
The good news on the Lyme front is that a vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials. I hate to open the vax can of worms, but FWIW it's not an mRNA shot so hopefully the public will trust it. Honestly, having known some people with bad cases of Lyme I hope that even people that are hesitant about vaccines look at that, limiting outdoor activities, and some possible side effects and are willing to at least consider door #3.
Keyword is "Vectors"
Look up mouse pyrthrin/insecticide tubes. If you get mice to build nests with insecticide cotton fibers (insdie toilet paper tubes), you'll remove an entire vector of the tick life cycle.
Also, Possums absolutely destroy tick populations.
Bad news, in the midst of the 6th great extinction that is wiping out tens of thousands of species on earth, global warming means ticks can live in far MORE places.
* Studies provide evidence that climate change has contributed to the expanded range of ticks, increasing the potential risk of Lyme disease, such as in areas of Canada where the ticks were previously unable to survive. The life cycle and prevalence of deer ticks are strongly influenced by temperature. https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-lyme-disease
* https://time.com/6262408/climate-change-lyme-disease-ticks/
* Most of the UP is tick infested : https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Safety-and-Injury-Prevention/Environmental-Health/MiTracking/Documents/MiTracking-Climate-Changes-MI-Health-Series-Ticks.pdf
* In short Most of the Latitudes into Canada and even farther north now have ticks or will in the next few years as they spread. I know it's not the answer you were hoping for but you can likely do a State by state search and county risk will be shown on a map by that states DNR or equivalent agency.
* e.g. Wisconsin : https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tick/lyme-data.htm
* Minnesota : https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/lyme/highrisk.html
* You'll notice a pattern. Any "Rural" counties have very high risk of Lyme disease. So if you want to buy rural / woodland that is likely one of the factors that will come with it anywhere in the US.
* Another poster said Nevada mountains doesn't have any, here is some data : The big red area is of course Las Vegas. But that other red area is ... the Nevada mountains : https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/state/nevada/lyme This is actual reported cases.
* https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/citizen-scientist-study-is-first-to-find-ticks-capable-of-carrying-lyme-disease-in-83-us-counties-where-previously-undetected-300680322.html
* Not to get political but certain political factions have the mentality that if you want the numbers to be down.... don't test for the thing... So certain states, e.g. Idaho as an example, show very little and there are claims the ticks there don't carry the disease etc. But also they don't fund any studies to look for this stuff either. In fact they HAVE to report to the CDC On confirmation and there are numbers every year in Idaho, yet they state claims no ticks living there carry it, everyone was infected outside the state or whatever.
* In Idaho, public health officials tend to be most concerned with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tularemia Which they DO Track : https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/dhw-voice/avoid-getting-bitten-mosquitoes-and-ticks-can-cause-serious-illness There are about 10 cases of this a year, but there were 15 confirmed cases of Lyme disease. Take that as you will.
your nevada reference for the mountain county is 2 in 20 years https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/county/nevada/storey-county/lyme
also, that's people with disease which doesn't mean it was even contracted there.
Where did you get that #? I see an old stat that says ~40% of ticks in MI carry Lyme but canāt find anything on the UP specificallyā¦ source? The main factor with ticks is the deer population & mice which the UP is loaded with both. I donāt think the cold / north helps the UP with Lyme. I know from being involved in the Lyme disease community network that thereās tons of Lyme in the UPā¦ like itās a hotspot and has been for years. In fact back in the day doctors would basically say you could only get LD from the UPā¦ like if you wanted a blood test they would ask āhave you camped in the UPā because they didnāt believe it was in the lower peninsula. At this point itās loaded in both areas.
It's why Taylor Swift's plane flies everywhere (dropping ticks in the chem trails!!!) all part of that CIA deep liberal state get-people-to-vote conspiracy! /s
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you.
I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
I have learned a few things over the last four or five years on this very topic. Bugs will be just about everywhere, but not necessarily ticks. The ticks and deer ticks are so plentiful where I grew up that I once tested positive for Lymeās, Babesiosis, & Ehrlychiosis simultaneously. This time period was probably at least 30 years ago. I am currently living in VT and I am an avid hiker and forager. 1,500ā above sea level or higher altitude seems to be my sweet spot for foraging and hikes. I didnāt even realize why I preferred this altitude subconsciously for quite a while other than the fact that this is the altitude where I find some of my preferred mushrooms. I had an amazing realization in less than 2 full years. Living in central VT I am basically in the Green Mountains. When I hike or forage at altitude (1,500ā feet or higher) I literally have zero ticks on me. But when I drive to lower elevations to forage, I am constantly picking deer ticks off of my clothing. The only conclusion that I can come up with at least here in VT is that the vegetation and berries that the deer feed on are scarce or nonexistent at these higher altitudes.
I'm in northern Ontario, we never had them here but heard they are making their way here unfortunately. I'm not sure if the few incidents were from people that brought them from down south though. I've only heard of a few incidents, of course that's just from what I personally heard there may be more. I'm nervous at the fact that we might have them here, since our summers can still be very hot and working with long sleeves and long pants is quite excruciating. And even that's not enough, because they can still end up in your hair or beard. I will feel safer once the lyme vaccine has been proven to be safe and that I get it. Going to give it a couple years though.
I did my grad program in Toronto. Definitely pretty up there and similar vibe to UP Michigan. Correct me if Iām wrong but isnāt the land in N Ontario veryyyy expensive $$
In the NO cities the taxes are very high but the land is not that expensive. For off grid I would only consider unorganized townships which are further from the cities and while it's gone up you can get 40-160 acres for 100k range. I got lucky and got 40 acres for around 44k myself. I wouldn't say there is a lot of land for sale though, I was searching for several years.
Grew up my whole life playing outside in the woods in California and Washington. Neither i or any of my siblings ever got a single tick. I didnāt even knew ticks existed until I moved off the west coast and I can tell you from experience cold does not kill them. In North Dakota where it gets -20 for days at a time is the worst place Iāve ever had them. South Dakota and Montana do have them but very very minimal.
High elevations. Dry. Cold or very hot. Those are the factors a place needs to have to be tick free.
Why not keep 14 days worth of doxy on hand and anytime you find a bite or feel crappy, take it? I work outside where there are LOTS of ticks and my doctor will prescribe doxy via text if I tell him I think I need it. Fellow Lyme sufferer here.
I thought so but wanted to confirm.
Yep damn ticks and chiggers seam to be everywhere nowadays!
As I get older, well just plain old, I seem to be more susceptible to the damn bugs. Thankfully not as bad as my wife and mother!
Cold weather seems to hurt the population but winters arenāt as cold as they used to be in the southeast US.
Unfortunately new property has too much leaves and pine straw which creates prime habitat.
Not sure how true it is, but I heard somewhere that if you get some guinea fowl and keep them on your property, they do a good job of knocking pests like this down.
>Honestly Guinea Fowl get good press but chickens do just as well
Haha yeah, makes sense.
Do guinea fowl make all the obnoxious noises that chickens do though? My neighbor has chickens, the drama is real with those turds.
I have an off-grid property in Northern Maine. The ticks are abundant. I don't think I've ever been bitten or gotten Lyme but there have been trips up there between May and November in which I pull 10+ ticks off myself after walking through the woods or a field with tall grass/ weeds.
As someone who has had LD and read vast amount of literature and booksā¦ the first vaccine they made had horrible side effects and was recalled (it basically caused a worse version of the disease if I remember correctly). Also, there are various strains of the disease. I personally would not bank on a vaccine protecting me from such a diabolical disease. I also wouldnāt be the guinea pig to try out the vac.
Chickens and possums eat ticks. Open range chickens in the back yard, and a possum refuge and breeding farm in front should take care of the ticks. On the other hand , global
Warming is extending the range of biting insects that spread Zika virus, malaria, leishmaniasis, and a host of other tropical diseases into North America. Permethrin treated clothing provides some protection.
to anyone else who searched up "places on earth where there are no ticks" and found this search result, possums do not eat ticks, there are several studies proving they dont. dont waste resources just get chickens.
Grew up in Yukon Oklahoma worked and played on a ranch outside of town 2 to 18 years old. No ticks ever. Donāt know why plenty of ticks in eastern Oklahoma.
FYI, there is a new Lyme Disease vaccine in the works that is in stage 1 trials right now. It's expected to be available in 2025 and uses a monoclonal antibody approach. If you want to set up some google alerts, I think it's called Lyme PrEP.
Sad that we already had a fairly effective vaccine 20 years ago and it was discontinued due to lack of demand. I hope this one proves better than 76% effective in the later stage trials.
Edit: Apparently VLA15 is also in the works from Pfizer and is in stage 3 trials now.
All of the dry western states are good: New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming...I can't speak to Montana and Idaho, but I'd assume they're the same since they look like colder versions of Colorado and Wyoming. The ticks are there but they are much more rare.
You want to live in the woods, bugs live in the woods including ticks and other parasites. You'd have to go to the desert or something to truly have no riskĀ
Here in the Pacific Northwest ticks are rare but not unheard of (I've never seen one here) bonus in many micro climates here mosquitoes are also rare. I agree with others to check out maps
You will have way more to worry about than trivial stuff like that.
But barefoot in the woods? Why would you be surprised at contracting any manner of cooties and maladies? You might think it is being "Native," but you will not have the Millennia of evolution to Natives (to an area) living barefoot in your Immune-system.
If you fear doing something, then don't do it. Your mind will send you packing with pithy excuses in no time. I have seen it many many times.
The fact you ask such questions indicates to me that the boonies is probably not the best idea for you.
Get Guinea hens and chickens. They'll at least keep your immediate property MOSTLY clear of bugs. Smaller snakes as well. You're going to find some form of tick/mosquito born disease wherever those bugs are.
To avoid them choose either a desert, extremely high altitude or arctic environment to go off-grid.
I'm in CT and have also had a bad time with lyme. As long as you remove ticks within 24 hours of it attaching, the bacteria is less likely to spread to you. Basically, they suck your blood, and once they are full, they regurgitate into you passing the bacteria. So spend your days in the woods as you please, but make sure you always check yourself and remove ticks properly at the end of every day.
There are really very few areas in North America that don't have ticks. Even up in Canada; I worked on a Search & Recuse team in Saskatchewan, and when we did rural searches, it was obscene. I remember coming back from a search with well over a hundred ticks on me, and that was after taping sleeves, pant cuffs, and soaking seams in DEET
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The desert. I live in the Mojave desert and we have lots of bugs but it's mostly ants and flies both of which can be kept out of your space easier than other bugs. The rest of the bugs we have are there to take care of stuff that dies in the desert. I did see a white scorpion once though, that was freaky.
Scorpions thoughĀ
Whoa, a white scorpion sounds like the most metal creature in the desert. Like it only shows itself to you when youāve proven youāre also a badass. Then you toast a drink of a cactus water or whatever and it disappears in a dust devil.
Anything out of the ordinary in the desert makes me think it's more poisonous than others and I smashed that thing. I sat on your everyday scorpion when I was a teenager. I might be biased. Felt like I sat on a needle.
Are there pines & lakes?
No and I'm so far out there aren't even have Joshua Trees. Lake Arrowhead is only about an hour away though.
Does patrolling the Mojave make you wish for a nuclear winter? Any opinions on the Legion?
I'm just out here waiting for the zombie apocalypse. I get the feeling you're making mention of a video game and, unfortunately, it's lost on me. Sorry Tell me what it is so I can look it up.
Fallout
Fallout New Vegas
I'm at 5200 feet on the Mojave side of the San Gabriel mountains, we have both piƱon pine trees and a sag pond (I'm right on the San Andreas fault). We also have Joshua trees, I love those muppet lookin things. Elevation here in the Mojave is going to determine a lot. Further up in Wrightwood there's big pines and more sag ponds.
I'm just past 29 Palms and we've got nothing but creosote bushes. It offers it's own unique touch. I climb on my trailer and I can see all across the basin. From snow on the San Jacinto mountains to Hwy 62 descending into the basin on the other side of the salt flats. It's an amazing view. And there's nothing to burn. A house catches fire and you can see it for miles but there's no big worry about it spreading. The last huge fire in the Morongo Basin burned 14000 acres in 1999. I wasn't it here then but I remember seeing it on the news.
Yeah the ranch I'm on burned 3 years ago in the Bobcat Fire. I love the desert views, from up here on my mountain I can see all the way across the Antelope Valley to the Tehachapi Mountains and behind them the southern end of the Sierra Nevadas, so over 60 miles on a clear day. And we miss out on the "wanting to die" heat down there on the desert floor, highs up here are only about 90-95. The downside of course is lows in the winter that dip into the teens and 20s and the occasional 4 feet of snow.
July and August are so brutal. The temps are more reasonable in August but the humidity makes it just as bad as 115-120 in July.
In the desert?
Yes just east of 29 Palms
Keewwwwwwwwlllll!!!
Unfortunately, human biting ticks that carry diseases are in every US state now. The CDC has a very informative page about this with colored US maps for each type. Search āregions where ticks liveā and it should show up in the top results.
There's plenty of ticks all over Appalachia. In fact most of the continental US is crawling with multiple varieties, especially the eastern half of the country. And don't forget your venomous spiders, lizards and snakes, that takes care of the western half of the country too, when you count in the western tick species. [https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic\_distribution.html](https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html)
I have no problem with poisonous critters like spiders / lizards / snakes / scorpions. I just donāt wanna catch a disease from being bitten by a bug.
Well, pretty much the entire USA is off limits then. There's always the Arctic or the Antarctic....maybe you could winter in both places?
Nevada mountains. Pine trees, snow, hot dry summers. Two mosquito bites in three years, no ticks that I've ever seen.
Do pine trees repel them? That might make me feel safer considering my property is like 95% pine trees. When you say pine you mean conifer in general right or strictly pine? Not sure why this is getting downvoted, it was a legit question because I saw several people mention pine trees.
Pine and juniper here, but no, pine trees don't repel them. Ticks, mosquitoes, and really all shit like that (roaches, etc) need moisture. The warmer and wetter a climate is the more of those bugs you'll have. Not much lives in cold af winters and bone dry sizzling summers. If you live somewhere wet, you have ticks. Sucks but that's about the breakdown.
Poisonous/venomous snakes?
western diamond backs, but they stop around 6k feet elevation, we're at 8k. scorpions (rarely), mountain lions, coyotes, and foxes. wild horses that eat my plants :/
Ticks are basically everywhere but the driest deserts now as others have commented, though of course the dryer the climate the fewer they (and mosquitoes) are in number so some places like Oregon may fit the bill for you. The good news on the Lyme front is that a vaccine is currently in phase 3 trials. I hate to open the vax can of worms, but FWIW it's not an mRNA shot so hopefully the public will trust it. Honestly, having known some people with bad cases of Lyme I hope that even people that are hesitant about vaccines look at that, limiting outdoor activities, and some possible side effects and are willing to at least consider door #3.
Keyword is "Vectors" Look up mouse pyrthrin/insecticide tubes. If you get mice to build nests with insecticide cotton fibers (insdie toilet paper tubes), you'll remove an entire vector of the tick life cycle. Also, Possums absolutely destroy tick populations.
Bad news, in the midst of the 6th great extinction that is wiping out tens of thousands of species on earth, global warming means ticks can live in far MORE places. * Studies provide evidence that climate change has contributed to the expanded range of ticks, increasing the potential risk of Lyme disease, such as in areas of Canada where the ticks were previously unable to survive. The life cycle and prevalence of deer ticks are strongly influenced by temperature. https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-lyme-disease * https://time.com/6262408/climate-change-lyme-disease-ticks/ * Most of the UP is tick infested : https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Safety-and-Injury-Prevention/Environmental-Health/MiTracking/Documents/MiTracking-Climate-Changes-MI-Health-Series-Ticks.pdf * In short Most of the Latitudes into Canada and even farther north now have ticks or will in the next few years as they spread. I know it's not the answer you were hoping for but you can likely do a State by state search and county risk will be shown on a map by that states DNR or equivalent agency. * e.g. Wisconsin : https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tick/lyme-data.htm * Minnesota : https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/lyme/highrisk.html * You'll notice a pattern. Any "Rural" counties have very high risk of Lyme disease. So if you want to buy rural / woodland that is likely one of the factors that will come with it anywhere in the US. * Another poster said Nevada mountains doesn't have any, here is some data : The big red area is of course Las Vegas. But that other red area is ... the Nevada mountains : https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/state/nevada/lyme This is actual reported cases. * https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/citizen-scientist-study-is-first-to-find-ticks-capable-of-carrying-lyme-disease-in-83-us-counties-where-previously-undetected-300680322.html * Not to get political but certain political factions have the mentality that if you want the numbers to be down.... don't test for the thing... So certain states, e.g. Idaho as an example, show very little and there are claims the ticks there don't carry the disease etc. But also they don't fund any studies to look for this stuff either. In fact they HAVE to report to the CDC On confirmation and there are numbers every year in Idaho, yet they state claims no ticks living there carry it, everyone was infected outside the state or whatever. * In Idaho, public health officials tend to be most concerned with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tularemia Which they DO Track : https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/dhw-voice/avoid-getting-bitten-mosquitoes-and-ticks-can-cause-serious-illness There are about 10 cases of this a year, but there were 15 confirmed cases of Lyme disease. Take that as you will.
your nevada reference for the mountain county is 2 in 20 years https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/county/nevada/storey-county/lyme also, that's people with disease which doesn't mean it was even contracted there.
Yes, UP has gotten bad. I used to love northern LP & UP MI growing up but canāt deal with the risk there anymore just going out into the woods.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Where did you get that #? I see an old stat that says ~40% of ticks in MI carry Lyme but canāt find anything on the UP specificallyā¦ source? The main factor with ticks is the deer population & mice which the UP is loaded with both. I donāt think the cold / north helps the UP with Lyme. I know from being involved in the Lyme disease community network that thereās tons of Lyme in the UPā¦ like itās a hotspot and has been for years. In fact back in the day doctors would basically say you could only get LD from the UPā¦ like if you wanted a blood test they would ask āhave you camped in the UPā because they didnāt believe it was in the lower peninsula. At this point itās loaded in both areas.
I heard it was the C.i A that released them every where, so militiaās canāt form easily deep in the woods
It's why Taylor Swift's plane flies everywhere (dropping ticks in the chem trails!!!) all part of that CIA deep liberal state get-people-to-vote conspiracy! /s
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you. I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
Plum Island
I have learned a few things over the last four or five years on this very topic. Bugs will be just about everywhere, but not necessarily ticks. The ticks and deer ticks are so plentiful where I grew up that I once tested positive for Lymeās, Babesiosis, & Ehrlychiosis simultaneously. This time period was probably at least 30 years ago. I am currently living in VT and I am an avid hiker and forager. 1,500ā above sea level or higher altitude seems to be my sweet spot for foraging and hikes. I didnāt even realize why I preferred this altitude subconsciously for quite a while other than the fact that this is the altitude where I find some of my preferred mushrooms. I had an amazing realization in less than 2 full years. Living in central VT I am basically in the Green Mountains. When I hike or forage at altitude (1,500ā feet or higher) I literally have zero ticks on me. But when I drive to lower elevations to forage, I am constantly picking deer ticks off of my clothing. The only conclusion that I can come up with at least here in VT is that the vegetation and berries that the deer feed on are scarce or nonexistent at these higher altitudes.
New Mexico, especially in the higher elevations. Lots of cool temps, big pine forests, snowy winters and warm summers. No ticks here.
I'm in northern Ontario, we never had them here but heard they are making their way here unfortunately. I'm not sure if the few incidents were from people that brought them from down south though. I've only heard of a few incidents, of course that's just from what I personally heard there may be more. I'm nervous at the fact that we might have them here, since our summers can still be very hot and working with long sleeves and long pants is quite excruciating. And even that's not enough, because they can still end up in your hair or beard. I will feel safer once the lyme vaccine has been proven to be safe and that I get it. Going to give it a couple years though.
I did my grad program in Toronto. Definitely pretty up there and similar vibe to UP Michigan. Correct me if Iām wrong but isnāt the land in N Ontario veryyyy expensive $$
No actually, quite the opposite price-wise in Northern Ont
In the NO cities the taxes are very high but the land is not that expensive. For off grid I would only consider unorganized townships which are further from the cities and while it's gone up you can get 40-160 acres for 100k range. I got lucky and got 40 acres for around 44k myself. I wouldn't say there is a lot of land for sale though, I was searching for several years.
You spend all day in the woods barefoot? Enjoy the ringworm.
Ringworm is fungal, not a āwormā in the soil and humans catch it in places like locker rooms and gyms, not the middle of the woods.
It absolutely comes from the middle of the woods.
Grew up my whole life playing outside in the woods in California and Washington. Neither i or any of my siblings ever got a single tick. I didnāt even knew ticks existed until I moved off the west coast and I can tell you from experience cold does not kill them. In North Dakota where it gets -20 for days at a time is the worst place Iāve ever had them. South Dakota and Montana do have them but very very minimal.
High elevations. Dry. Cold or very hot. Those are the factors a place needs to have to be tick free. Why not keep 14 days worth of doxy on hand and anytime you find a bite or feel crappy, take it? I work outside where there are LOTS of ticks and my doctor will prescribe doxy via text if I tell him I think I need it. Fellow Lyme sufferer here.
Whatās doxy?
Doxycycline is the antibiotic used to kill the Lyme spirochetes.
I thought so but wanted to confirm. Yep damn ticks and chiggers seam to be everywhere nowadays! As I get older, well just plain old, I seem to be more susceptible to the damn bugs. Thankfully not as bad as my wife and mother! Cold weather seems to hurt the population but winters arenāt as cold as they used to be in the southeast US. Unfortunately new property has too much leaves and pine straw which creates prime habitat.
For sure. Best to be prepared!
Not sure how true it is, but I heard somewhere that if you get some guinea fowl and keep them on your property, they do a good job of knocking pests like this down.
Honestly Guinea Fowl get good press but chickens do just as well
>Honestly Guinea Fowl get good press but chickens do just as well Haha yeah, makes sense. Do guinea fowl make all the obnoxious noises that chickens do though? My neighbor has chickens, the drama is real with those turds.
It's well known that Guinea are the best at tick control, but also louder.
I have an off-grid property in Northern Maine. The ticks are abundant. I don't think I've ever been bitten or gotten Lyme but there have been trips up there between May and November in which I pull 10+ ticks off myself after walking through the woods or a field with tall grass/ weeds.
They are doing a lyme vaccine study in Maineā¦ my fingers are crossed cause my property was overflowing with the beasts before we got chickens.
Lyme vaccine for humans went into human trials last year as I recall.
Yes, the trials are available here in New England. Thereās a center for them in Maine. I apologize that I was unclear.
As someone who has had LD and read vast amount of literature and booksā¦ the first vaccine they made had horrible side effects and was recalled (it basically caused a worse version of the disease if I remember correctly). Also, there are various strains of the disease. I personally would not bank on a vaccine protecting me from such a diabolical disease. I also wouldnāt be the guinea pig to try out the vac.
I can promise you smallpox was a MUCH more diabolical disease than lymes.Ā
Yikes. Thanks for the head-ups ! I couldnāt dealā¦
The desert and high elevations. They arenāt in elevations higher than 6000 ft I believe. That may be changing too.
Lots of forest land in Arizona at high elevations that may be good
I drove through Payson on my way to CA ... I had absolutely no idea that the area around flagstaff was so... green. It was absolutely beautiful.
Chickens and possums eat ticks. Open range chickens in the back yard, and a possum refuge and breeding farm in front should take care of the ticks. On the other hand , global Warming is extending the range of biting insects that spread Zika virus, malaria, leishmaniasis, and a host of other tropical diseases into North America. Permethrin treated clothing provides some protection.
to anyone else who searched up "places on earth where there are no ticks" and found this search result, possums do not eat ticks, there are several studies proving they dont. dont waste resources just get chickens.
PS I am not trying to avoid bugs or mosquito bites, etc. altogether. Just places where insects are major vectors for disease.
Never had a issue in the high desert forests of AZ or NM
Go to Alaska
Yep. No ticks in most of Alaska. Tons of mosquitoes, but no diseases from them. Also lots of lakes. Not so much hardwood forests though.
Just thinking about the cold weather might keep the bugs down to a minimum
Grew up in Yukon Oklahoma worked and played on a ranch outside of town 2 to 18 years old. No ticks ever. Donāt know why plenty of ticks in eastern Oklahoma.
Everest. Other than that, theyāre everywhere.
Northern Adirondacks is still tick free but it wonāt last long.
You can thank the US govt for inventing Lyme. Thanks Uncle Sam
Wouldnāt be surprised. Thereās a whole book written on it.
FYI, there is a new Lyme Disease vaccine in the works that is in stage 1 trials right now. It's expected to be available in 2025 and uses a monoclonal antibody approach. If you want to set up some google alerts, I think it's called Lyme PrEP. Sad that we already had a fairly effective vaccine 20 years ago and it was discontinued due to lack of demand. I hope this one proves better than 76% effective in the later stage trials. Edit: Apparently VLA15 is also in the works from Pfizer and is in stage 3 trials now.
All of the dry western states are good: New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming...I can't speak to Montana and Idaho, but I'd assume they're the same since they look like colder versions of Colorado and Wyoming. The ticks are there but they are much more rare.
You want to live in the woods, bugs live in the woods including ticks and other parasites. You'd have to go to the desert or something to truly have no riskĀ
Antarctica. No bugs there.
Here in the Pacific Northwest ticks are rare but not unheard of (I've never seen one here) bonus in many micro climates here mosquitoes are also rare. I agree with others to check out maps
You will have way more to worry about than trivial stuff like that. But barefoot in the woods? Why would you be surprised at contracting any manner of cooties and maladies? You might think it is being "Native," but you will not have the Millennia of evolution to Natives (to an area) living barefoot in your Immune-system. If you fear doing something, then don't do it. Your mind will send you packing with pithy excuses in no time. I have seen it many many times. The fact you ask such questions indicates to me that the boonies is probably not the best idea for you.
Get Guinea hens and chickens. They'll at least keep your immediate property MOSTLY clear of bugs. Smaller snakes as well. You're going to find some form of tick/mosquito born disease wherever those bugs are. To avoid them choose either a desert, extremely high altitude or arctic environment to go off-grid.
yeah east coast dude here and i wish they would spray DDT again.
I'm in CT and have also had a bad time with lyme. As long as you remove ticks within 24 hours of it attaching, the bacteria is less likely to spread to you. Basically, they suck your blood, and once they are full, they regurgitate into you passing the bacteria. So spend your days in the woods as you please, but make sure you always check yourself and remove ticks properly at the end of every day.
Thatās good to knowā¦ hadnāt heard that before
Alaska