Tick Time
Tick Time
It’s a breezy 60 degrees today; the grass is turning green, and the mud is beginning to dry. Robins, red-winged blackbirds, and sandhill cranes are singing their sweet spring songs. After an early morning walk with Dane and the pups, he goes home while I wrap up in a blanket on the sunny back porch.
Before I can pick up my book to read, Lorca, my 25-pound cat, takes one leap and plunks down on my stomach. I start to pet him just the way he likes it: under his chin, around his ears, and on his neck.
Before I see it, I feel the swollen tick—it must have been feeding on Lorca for a few days to get to this size. You can tell how long a tick has been attached by its size and color. A deer tick will change from reddish to gray and become larger than a raisin after about six or seven days.
Learning more about ticks, which can carry and spread serious, debilitating diseases, would benefit everyone.
Here in the Vernon County area, springtime means tick time, but ticks can be out feeding anytime there is no snow covering the ground. However, most tick-borne diseases are recorded from May to July.
One in three deer ticks in our area tests positive for carrying Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses. Only 70 percent of people will have the telltale bull's-eye rash when bitten by a Lyme-infected tick. The rest of us must watch for flu-like symptoms and more serious effects, such as facial paralysis, fever, loss of sensation in one leg, or severe arthritis.
Recently, I learned that the best tick repellent for my animals is the kind that kills the tick when it attaches to them. If the medicine you use simply prevents the tick from attaching, you may eventually find that tick on you! Here, we use Nexgard for dogs and Frontline for cats, but other good brands exist.
This year, I learned about a product for humans made from tomatoes called BioUD. It’s a nontoxic spray that, if applied every 30 minutes, does a great job of keeping ticks at bay. The problem I had was that everywhere I looked, it was already sold out.
For the past 13 years, Dane worked for a forestry job, which supplied him with permethrin to spray his clothing. Permethrin is highly effective at killing ticks on contact. Studies have shown that people who wear treated clothing experience far fewer tick bites than people who wear untreated socks and pants.
Although Permethrin is generally regarded as safe for humans to use on their clothing, it is an insecticide, and it can be toxic. Always follow directions, don’t use it on your skin, wash your hands, and keep it away from your animals. A safe way to use permethrin is to take your boots outside, spray them, dry them, and wear them whenever you go hiking.
Hoisting Lorca off of me, I next go on a search-and-destroy mission and find other ticks that haven’t attached yet. I carefully put them in a folded napkin and take them inside the house to flush them down the toilet. Did you know ticks can live 60 days underwater?
Ticks don’t jump or fly, but they do climb. The female climbs grasses and hangs on while her front legs reach out, looking for something warm to latch on to. This is called questing. When you brush past those grasses, her claw-like hand grasps hold of you, and she then attaches and starts climbing upward. Ticks tend to like warm places—armpits, backs of knees, inside the elbow, and hairlines. But the last attached tick I had was on my upper arm.
It’s best to wear light-colored clothing while hiking. Tuck your shirt in at the waist and your pants legs into your socks. The light colors make it easier to spot the ticks, and tucking in makes it harder for them to get under your clothes.
Staying in the middle of the path is also a smart way to keep ticks at bay. When you get home, always do a tick check. It is also recommended that you throw your clothes in a hot dryer for 15 minutes.
Staying tick savvy is a never-ending job but one worth keeping up to date on. Professionals like Dr. Thomas Mather, aka the Tick Doctor, caution us that if we have cats and dogs that go inside and out, it's inevitable that we will have ticks in our house.
It’s only mid-March, and my big boy Lorca is warning me to pay attention. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in Wisconsin. Maybe you’ve had a tick-borne disease. If so, like me, you are paying attention.