Creepy Crawly Tick Facts
We discussed heartworm disease and mosquito fun facts last month so this month we are keeping with the preventive thread and following the trail of those pesky, creepy, crawly ticks. The very thought of them makes our skin crawl and makes us start checking every inch of our skin. The more you know about ticks, the easier it is to keep you and your pets protected.
- There are 850 tick species in the world and over 6000 species of chiggers.
- Our area has 7 known species of ticks (black legged {deer} tick, woodchuck tick, rabbit tick, lone star tick, American dog tick, winter tick, and the brown dog tick)
- The black legged tick is active year around and the various ticks are active at different times of the year
- The American dog tick can live 3 years without a blood meal
- Depending on the species of tick, they can lay 2000-8000 eggs at a time and then the female dies
- Some ticks live in grassy areas, some prefer wooded areas
- The black legged tick does not have eyes
- A tick can feed on a host for 1-2 weeks
- Ticks do not fall out of trees and rarely climb higher than knee high
- Tick saliva has an anesthetic in it that numbs the skin so a bite is not felt and then the saliva also has a cement like consistency to firmly adhere the tick to the host
- Tick saliva also has healing qualities and has been shown to possibly treat Lyme disease and Myasthenia gravis (a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease).
- Ticks are the arachnida class and the Arthropoda phylum with spiders, scorpions, mites, and chiggers.
- Pets can pick up ticks outside and bring them back to family members
- Migratory birds are one of the largest carriers of ticks depositing them around the country
- Ticks carry diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Babesia, Rickettsia, and Tularemia. All of which can be transmitted to almost any mammal.
- A tick has three life cycles and each cycle takes place on a different host which can take up to three years.
- Snow actually protects and insulates ticks prolonging their survival. Extreme cold WITHOUT snow will kill them.
- Ticks are so small that most people may not feel them on their skin
Ticks are a very difficult critter to live with and the diseases they carry can stay in a body for years to life if not promptly treated. It is much easier to prevent them. Please keep your pets protected by using monthly flea and tick protection. For yourself make sure you use a tick labeled spray to repel ticks. If you are hiking, hunting, or working in areas that ticks may be present then tuck your pants into your socks and tuck your shirt into your pants. Once ticks encounter a cloth barrier on skin they usually do not go further, that is why they are found on the ankles, wrists, behind the knees, or at collars. You can easily build a tick barrier in your yard if you border on woodlands or grasslands by having a gravel or woodchip border between your grass and the wood or tall grass line. Also, keep wood and leaf debris piles cleaned up in your yard. But, please keep in mind that any animal that crosses your property can carry ticks (birds, strays, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, or groundhogs). Knowing more about ticks and how to protect yourself and those you love is becoming more prevalent as ticks are making their way into our area and that knowledge is crucial to combating them.