Sooooo many ticks!!!

I've already pulled four ticks off of myself this year--only one of them embedded. There are so many here in Connecticut! Any one else noticed this? I figure I'm so loaded up with antibiotics right now that I probably don't need to worry about myself, but how do I protect my kids and dogs? My poor 10 year old cocker has already been diagnosed with chronic Lyme. She's on 30 days of Doxy right now. Does anyone recommend the preventive herb that Buhner suggests? Anyone used it?

I just ordered astragulus to give to my kids--at least through the height of tick season. Disgusting ticks!

Soscared13, they are horrible already so early in the year!! I pulled 2 off my knee after horsebackriding the other day! On, my knee!! There isn't even hardly any fat or tissue there!! Nasty things. I have been using peppermint oil in water to keep the nasty things off me! This particular time I didn't have my spray!!! I put maybe 20 drops of peppermint essential oil in a large squirt bottle and spray myself often. So far, none crawling on me when I use this!!

Lymerunner, Ugh! I can't believe a tick got your knee! Peppermint oil spray is very crafty of you.
And so scared13, my goodness it's a battlefield out there! It's so hard to prevent pups from getting ticks without using the drops. You know that your vet can sell them to you I imagine. I couldn't in good conscience use them throughout the year as directed but at this time of year it made the number go from 200 to 10 ticks, definitely something to consider with a long haired pup but please be careful I feel those drops are extremely toxic. It's lesser evil perhaps.
I think we must have created a perfect storm for these ruthless ******s. It being slightly warmer, year round in many areas, for years, I think could be increasing the time they breed and decreasing the season they lay mostly dormant.
People have been finding ticks inside their homes!
Marie, pyrethrum? I don't think Im spelling it right but that kills almost any small insect if it has enough contact.
Thanks for the tea tree oil study!

I did put frigging Frontline on my dogs--I hate doing it. I know it isn't good for them. But neither is chronic Lyme. And I need to try to reduce as much as possible the number of ticks the dogs bring into my house. My poor little cocker is herxing from the doxy--she's limping, lethargic. I know EXACTLY how she feels--poor girl!

I feel so bad for all of you that have so many ticks around. There's an essential oils Lyme group here that I will have to contact to see what mixture they use to repel ticks and other insects. Hopefully I still have their contact info.

I haven't seen many, however, a friend found 5 on her dog.... The one I did find, was on a blade of grass, I set the lil *&%^ on fire!

I'm in Tennessee, and we have a tick explosion here this year, too. They say it's because of the rainy winter we had. My dogs get Frontline because when I volunteered at our shelter I saw what happened to dogs that didn't - some of them died from anemia.

Of course we "don't have" Lyme-bearing ticks in Tennessee. Right, I believe that one. I'm so paranoid I usually stay on the pavement, because we live in a wooded area and every time I step into the grass I end up with a tick and several dozen chiggers.