About Cayte Bosler

Cayte Bosler is an investigative journalist covering the intersections of climate change, wildlife and community resilience in the Adirondack wilderness. Throughout her career, she has researched ecology and wildlife biology in protected areas in the Bolivian Amazon and in Cuba, trekked to an extreme altitude ecosystem in the Peruvian Andes, and boated through the mangrove-filled estuaries of Guatemala — all to chronicle solutions for conserving the natural world. She holds a master of science from Columbia University’s sustainability program and is a fellow of the Explorer’s Club.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alan West says

    A year ago I got anaplasmosis from a tick bite. I’m an adirondack trapper and the fisher that I catch are loaded with ticks! I came very close to death with IV’s going in both arms. Symptons are terrible.

  2. Worth Gretter says

    The article says: “But establishing a habit of tick checks after every outing could help to decrease significantly the risk of infection to humans (the tick needs to be present on the skin for 36-48 hours before a person can become infected).”

    It is important to note that the time delay only applies to Lyme. There are a number of other tick-borne diseases than can be transmitted quickly when the tick bites you. So ticks need to be prevented from ever getting on your body.

    You might not see it in articles, but the people out there in the woods know that the secret is Permethrin. It is not used on skin, but rather applied to your clothing – in advance so it has time to dry before you wear it.

    If you wear Permethrin treated socks, pants, shirt, and hat, you can stop worrying about ticks. And, it is also effective against mosquitos, but you need to add regular insect repellant on your bare face, neck, ears, and hands.

    • Boreas says

      Permethrin seems to work well for me as well. I have tons of ticks on my property, and since I have started using it I find fewer ticks on my clothes, and rarely on my person. But I still worry about them attaching and remain diligent.

      Pets are also great transportation systems for ticks. If your pets roam into the yard and edges, they need to be protected, as they will indeed bring them into the house where we aren’t slathered with insecticide. I recently lost a cat that several years ago developed a “fever of unknown origin” that I blame on the ticks that bit her when her tick treatment became ineffective (Frontline as I recall). Vet couldn’t specifically find the offending blood organism. Despite IV antibiotics, she nearly died during the acute phase, and had neuropathy and debilitating arthropathy the remaining years of her life. If you don’t protect yourself from ticks, at least protect your pets.

      I wish I had had more knowledge of ticks’ abilities to infect pets. It still hasn’t been studied very much, yet needs to be.

  3. Ginger Henry Kuenzel, Hague, NY says

    In the summer of 2019, I suddenly had extremely low blood pressure and heart rate. After three days of not being able to stand without help, a friend drove me to the urgent care clinic in Warrensburg. The doctor called an ambulance and sent me to Glens Fall ER, saying I was in afib and in imminent danger of a stroke. After not being able to identify the problem but stabilizing me, the ER sent me home and told me to see a cardiologist the next day. He put me on medication that sunk my heart rate further and said I was a healthy individual and there were no indicators that I should have heart disease. 10 days later, though I was not quite as weak, I still wasn’t feeling right, and my blood pressure was still extremely low. I went back to urgent care, and a nurse practitioner decided to run tests for tick-borne diseases. The results came back with extremely high numbers for Lyme, Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis. ‘The trifecta’, as my doctor termed it. They immediately put me on doxycycline (which treats Lyme and Anaplasmosis) plus two other antibiotics for the Babesiosis. Thank goodness for the NP who decided to test for tick diseases! The lesson I learned is that these diseases can attack one’s heart (I am otherwise extremely healthy, with no indicators for heart disease) without you ever knowing you’ve been bit. I had none of the normal symptoms of a tick bite and never saw the tick. Last summer, when my blood pressure suddenly dropped again, I knew immediately what to do. I took doxycycline and had the blood tests done again. That time I had ‘only’ Lyme and Anaplasmosis, so the doxycycline was enough. I agree that Permethrin can be an effective preventive. But the best thing is to know your body and get help if something doesn’t seem right.

  4. Bill Miner says

    My first 50 plus years were spent in southern Saratoga County. I never found a tick on me and only a couple on my horses and dogs. These last 12 years have been spent in southwestern St Lawrence County. I have run into many many ticks. Some on me and many others on my dog. I have had Lime disease. Many symptoms. Not pleasant. My dog is vaccinated and receives monthly skin applications to discourage ticks. My wife and I do not go off trail without wearing permethrin treated clothing.

  5. Neal Larkin says

    Live in the Adirondacks contracted anaplasmosis this June – 7 months to recover – almost killed me – almost everyone I know has or knows someone who’s contracted some sort of illness from a tick bites – it’s devastating and getting worse 🙁

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