Ticks

[Mad Hornet]

I've been on the same piece of property for 24 years. Three acres in the country and aside from the creek line I keep it all mowed. I've always had a garden but this year I expanded it and added a trellis for hops. I planted 8 hop plants and they are starting to take off. Now up until now, I've very rarely gotten a tick on me. But so far this year I've had four and every time it was after handling my hop plants - training the bines. Luckily I can feel them crawling on my forearm and pick them off before they take a bite. But has anyone else noticed their hop plants attracting ticks? What do you do to control them? This is central Ohio by the way in case that matters.

 

[Beerisgud]

The ticks might prefer setting up shop higher up on these newly planted hops in the field to snag hosts? Damned ticks got em in my woods 50 ft from my hops but they never show up on mine.
You could try eliminating vegetation and applying insecticide around the bases of the plants?

 

[toadie]

Supposedly a really bad year for what it is worth. Last year was mild tick-wise. The year before terrible. May have something to do with acorn production and subsequent host population explosion, though typically not in that calendar year. Also encourage possum habitat (kind of a joke but not really).

 

[Mad Hornet]

Supposedly a really bad year for what it is worth. Last year was mild tick-wise. The year before terrible. May have something to do with acorn production and subsequent host population explosion, though typically not in that calendar year. Also encourage possum habitat (kind of a joke but not really).

Well with my big dogs around possums will likely look elsewhere for living quarters. And they are non-negotiable LOL

But I am intrigued by your acorn remark. One of our northern red oaks dropped a ton last year. It's probably 100' or so from where the hops are growing though. What do acorns have to do with ticks?

 

[Dland]

Well, we have the regular dog ticks, deer ticks and the newest, the lone star.

Lots of potentially life altering pathogens they transmit too. Have dealt w the lyme the deer ticks spread a few times, antibiotics and try to stay out of sun (yeah right), but can get a lot worse, including mental debilitation, seen it happen.

One of my crew was diagnosed w rocky mountain last year, dog tick spread. The newly introduced Lonestar tick,.. well that one can transmit a virus that can make one have allergic reactions to red meat & some other proteins. That would suck, in my opinion.

 

[toadie]

The theory is that mast (fruit and nuts) abundance leads to population explosions of both mice and deer (and others I presume) who are excellent tick hosts. Ticks like to wait on tall grass for something warm blooded to brush by.

I have a few hop plants and like their cousin marijuana, they are an insect magnet. I'm trying to let the predators solve my problems. I also removed 4 feet of leaves and tendrils from the bottom of each plant last year after they reached a good size mostly to help with mildew issues but that might help with critters too.

Last it is my understanding that dogs can get sick if they eat any part of the hop plant so you might want to fence it off if that is possible. Me, I eat the excess shoots in the spring with a little butter and s and p. Delicious.

 

[Mad Hornet]

The theory is that mast (fruit and nuts) abundance leads to population explosions of both mice and deer (and others I presume) who are excellent tick hosts. Ticks like to wait on tall grass for something warm blooded to brush by.

I have a few hop plants and like their cousin marijuana, they are an insect magnet. I'm trying to let the predators solve my problems. I also removed 4 feet of leaves and tendrils from the bottom of each plant last year after they reached a good size mostly to help with mildew issues but that might help with critters too.

Last it is my understanding that dogs can get sick if they eat any part of the hop plant so you might want to fence it off if that is possible. Me, I eat the excess shoots in the spring with a little butter and s and p. Delicious.

Thanks toadie. My whole garden is fenced in to keep the coons out of my sweet corn and also to keep the dogs out. I also grow onions which are also poisonous to dogs as well.

I never heard of eating the shoots! Do you cook them or melt the butter?

 

[toadie]

I didn't know that about onions! I fry the shoots like asparagus, in a cast iron with butter and salt and pepper. 2-3 mins a side. At a certain point they get too bitter for my taste so I compost them. My bines are around 8 feet tall now. Zone 5b but with global warming I feel like it might be 6 now.

 

[Sonofastu]

Unrelated to beer or hops (with the exception of consuming it in one of my fields), but I have also noticed an abundance of ticks. I’ve pulled several lone star ticks off my dog and found a few crawling on my feet or legs. Sometimes while walking in grass that I mow. Luckily the dog has short hair so we just check her after every outdoor adventure. Here in Merland, we have dog, lone star, and deer ticks. Not many things I’m happy to dispatch but ticks are one.

 

[btbonser]

Not sure if hops attract ticks but Guinea hen's will control the ticks

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Yeah, as others have stated, it is not your hop plants, it is the tick population this year--- they are BAD! I live in town in MI and I have never seen a tick, let alone had issues, in 10+ years living here. But this year they are everywhere!

 

[Mad Hornet]

Not sure if hops attract ticks but Guinea hen's will control the ticks

Do you raise Guinea hens? Wondering how much work they are to raise. And how long they would last with coyotes around?

 

[btbonser]

Do you raise Guinea hens? Wondering how much work they are to raise. And how long they would last with coyotes around?

No, but my wife has chickens which will also eat ticks and donkeys that she got to keep the coyotes away from the chickens. I always tell her “we buy chicken food, hay and pay a farrier all for free eggs.”

Guinea hens are loud and ugly but effective.
https://www.wikihow.com/Raise-Guinea-Fowl

 

[Kent88]

I never heard of eating the shoots! Do you cook them or melt the butter?

 

[bracconiere]

Me, I eat the excess shoots in the spring with a little butter and s and p. Delicious.

hmm, hop asparagus.....so it's like chocolate for dogs though?

 

[toadie]

hmm, hop asparagus.....so it's like chocolate for dogs though?

Yeah so I hear, no direct evidence tho. I will also say I stopped eating them well before I let the 4 main bines shoot for the sky. They were great for a while and then after some combination of more heat and/or more sun they got bitter. Fuzzy and bitter is no fun.

 

[bracconiere]

Yeah so I hear, no direct evidence tho

well "the more you know", if i ever had dog, i know now it can't be my drinking buddy, and it's probably best to not fill it's water dish with homebrew IPA!

 

[toadie]

Supposedly hop water is a thing!

 

[bracconiere]

Supposedly hop water is a thing!

so as long as it's not a double imperial chocolate stout, for my chocolate lab?

as far as ticks go, maybe they like their blood really hoppy? like we do beer?

 

[brewbama]

Get some guinea hens. You’ll never have another tick in your yard.

 

[kmmuellr]

From here: ASPCA

So what does homebrewing have to do with pets?
With the increasing popularity of homebrewing, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) has seen an increase in calls concerning pets ingesting hops—a staple ingredient in most beers. For those who may not be beer aficionados, hops are the flowers from the plant Humulus Lupulus. They are primarily used as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, and may come in several forms: dried flowers, plugs or pellets.

The hops used to make beer can actually be very dangerous for dogs. When our four-legged friends ingest hops, they can develop a significant or even life-threatening increase in their body temperature. A dog’s normal temperature is usually around 101-102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. When dogs ingest hops, their temperature will spike over 102.5 degrees, putting them in a dangerous state. When a dog’s temperature reaches over 107 degrees, it is considered life-threatening. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what form hops come in, or if they have been used (spent) or not—they can all be dangerous and problematic for dogs.

Other problems seen when dogs ingest hops include panting or fast breathing, stomach upset (vomiting or diarrhea), agitation and an increase in heart rate. Symptoms can start as rapidly as 30 minutes after ingestion, but (rarely) can be delayed up to eight hours.

 

[Mad Hornet]

Well I'm not a big asparagus eater and the hair texture won't work for me personally. But to each their own....

 

[Mad Hornet]

Get some guinea hens. You’ll never have another tick in your yard.

Do you have guinea hens? I was doing research on them and it sounds like they are very noisy and my neighbors will not be happy with me having a flock of them. My barking dogs are bad enough! I do give them Simparica once a month and it does the job controlling ticks on them.

 

[Mad Hornet]

From here: ASPCA

So what does homebrewing have to do with pets?
With the increasing popularity of homebrewing, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) has seen an increase in calls concerning pets ingesting hops—a staple ingredient in most beers. For those who may not be beer aficionados, hops are the flowers from the plant Humulus Lupulus. They are primarily used as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, and may come in several forms: dried flowers, plugs or pellets.

The hops used to make beer can actually be very dangerous for dogs. When our four-legged friends ingest hops, they can develop a significant or even life-threatening increase in their body temperature. A dog’s normal temperature is usually around 101-102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. When dogs ingest hops, their temperature will spike over 102.5 degrees, putting them in a dangerous state. When a dog’s temperature reaches over 107 degrees, it is considered life-threatening. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what form hops come in, or if they have been used (spent) or not—they can all be dangerous and problematic for dogs.

Other problems seen when dogs ingest hops include panting or fast breathing, stomach upset (vomiting or diarrhea), agitation and an increase in heart rate. Symptoms can start as rapidly as 30 minutes after ingestion, but (rarely) can be delayed up to eight hours.

Thanks that is good info!

 

[brewbama]

Do you have guinea hens? I was doing research on them and it sounds like they are very noisy and my neighbors will not be happy with me having a flock of them. My barking dogs are bad enough! I do give them Simparica once a month and it does the job controlling ticks on them.

They are loud but I live in the boonies. And they’re harder to coop train that chickens but you’ll never have another tick in the yard.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Climate change and acorns. And fer crissakes protect your nipples.

https://grist.org/science/its-not-just-your-imagination-ticks-are-out-of-control-this-year/

 

[Mad Hornet]

Climate change and acorns. And fer crissakes protect your nipples.

https://grist.org/science/its-not-just-your-imagination-ticks-are-out-of-control-this-year/

Thanks for sharing and grossing me out! LOL. Not sure about the northeast but we did NOT have a warm spring (and I wish we had!) in Ohio so I don't buy the climate change part but we did have lots of acorns.

 

[Miller4]

We have guineas, they have been very easy to keep. We have them with chickens and I think that helps them go back into the coop at night. Otherwise coyotes and owls would probably make quick work of them. They are loud, but fun to watch roam. We don’t have any neighbors but I could see them being a problem with how loud they are. Our main reason to raise them is tick and snake control.

 

[btbonser]

We have guineas, they have been very easy to keep. We have them with chickens and I think that helps them go back into the coop at night. Otherwise coyotes and owls would probably make quick work of them. They are loud, but fun to watch roam. We don’t have any neighbors but I could see them being a problem with how loud they are. Our main reason to raise them is tick and snake control.View attachment 731758

Good point about snake control