Tick Season Again – Preventive Measures
With the advent of warm sunny weather, many residents feel the urge to get out in our open spaces and enjoy some fresh air and nature; also, our gardens, shrubbery and lawns, neglected through the winter, cry out for maintenance.
As we emerge from our houses and spend more time outdoors, we need to be aware of ticks. Sensible precautions are best; ticks are not monsters…just pests. The problem is that ticks carry diseases, some quite serious, and we need to be aware of this to take some simple preventive measures.
There are two types of ticks in our area: the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), also known as the wood tick is probably the best known, since it is larger and you can more easily see it. The American dog tick can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and possibly ehrlichiosis to humans.
The Deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), also sometimes known as the Blacklegged tick is much smaller. The blacklegged / deer tick can transmit Lyme disease and possibly ehrlichiosis to humans.
 Dog Tick (enlarged) |
 Dog Tick (scale) |
 Deer Tick (enlarged) |
 Deer Tick (scale) |
Preventive measures
- Wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts, long trousers, boots or sturdy shoes and a head covering. (Ticks are easier to detect on light-colored clothing.) Tuck trouser cuffs in socks. Tape the area where pants and socks meet so ticks cannot crawl under clothing.
- Apply insect repellent containing 10 percent to 30 percent DEET primarily to clothes. Apply sparingly to exposed skin. Do not spray directly to the face; spray the repellent onto hands and then apply to face. Avoid sensitive areas like the eyes, mouth and nasal membranes. Be sure to wash treated skin after coming indoors. Use repellents containing permethrin to treat clothes (especially pants, socks and shoes) but not skin. Always follow label directions; do not misuse or overuse repellents. Always supervise children in the use of repellents.
- Walk in the center of trails so weeds do not brush against you. In camping areas, individuals who sit on the ground or disturb leaf litter on the forest floor may encounter ticks.
- Check yourself, children and other family members every two to three hours for ticks. Most ticks seldom attach quickly and rarely transmit disease organisms until they have been attached for four or more hours. If your pets spend time outdoors, check them for ticks, too.
- If ticks are crawling on the outside of clothes, they can be removed with masking tape or cellophane tape. A ring of tape can be made around the hand by leaving the sticky side out and attaching the two ends. Ticks will stick to the tape which can then be folded over and then placed in the trash.
- Remove any tick promptly. The mouthparts of a tick are barbed and may remain embedded and lead to infection at the bite site if not removed promptly. Do not burn the tick with a match or cover it with petroleum jelly or nail polish. The best way to remove a tick is to grasp it firmly with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and gently, but firmly, pull it straight out. Do not twist or jerk the tick. If tweezers are not available, grasp the tick with a piece of tissue or cloth or whatever can be used as a barrier between your fingers and the tick. Ticks can be safely disposed of by placing them in a container of soapy water or alcohol, sticking them to tape or flushing them down the toilet. If you want to have the tick identified, put it in a small vial of alcohol.
- Wash the bite area and your hands thoroughly with soap and water and apply an antiseptic to the bite site.
- If you have an unexplained illness with fever, contact a physician. Be sure to tell the physician if you have been outdoors in areas where ticks were present or traveled to areas where tick-borne diseases are common.
Make sure the property around your home is unattractive to ticks. Because ticks are sensitive to dry conditions and do not thrive in short vegetation, they are seldom a problem in well-maintained lawns. Keep your grass mowed and keep weeds cut. Clean up items that attract rodents which can carry ticks, such as spilled birdseed, and hiding places like old wood piles. If ticks are present in vegetation along the edge of the property, insecticides labeled for control of ticks can be applied to small areas of high weeds that cannot be mowed. Often, one or two applications per season will be adequate to control ticks in these areas.
Free-roaming dogs and cats are much more likely to encounter ticks than those that are confined to the home or yard. If ticks are found on pets, contact your veterinarian for information about an appropriate tick treatment. Remove the occasional tick found indoors by vacuuming, seal the vacuum bag and place it in the trash. Residents can purchase “Tick Tubes®â€ from the township which can be placed around your property to prevent one of the natural carriers of deer ticks, mice, from picking up these unwanted passengers. Tick Tubes® are simply cardboard tubes stuffed with permethrin-treated cotton that mice take back and use for their nests. The treated cotton kills any ticks on them breaking the tick’s life cycle. Residents who have used these have reported positive results.
There is more information on the internet that you would ever want to know about ticks! Simply search on Dog or Deer Ticks and a wealth of information is available. Much of the information in the article above was found in the website of the Illinois Department of Health. Pennsylvania and Chester County also provide lots of useful information on ticks and how to deal with them on their health department websites.
