In Pennsylvania, and many other states, deer ticks are a huge problem. While many doctors still need to be convinced that Lyme is 'a real thing,' the Lyme Disease Maps: Historical Data page at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sharing information as fast as it an be analyzed. Go to the link, click on 2012 and work your way to now. Oh, and know that deer ticks are not the only ticks in the country that can spread Lyme and, furthermore, Lyme is not the only disease ticks spread! Our friends to the west know this too well because of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE IN THE WOODS TO GET TICK BITES AND LYME DISEASE! Anywhere that a mouse can walk or a bird can fly (usually ticks' first hosts), there can be ticks there waiting, literally, to grab you. Grass, low leaves on trees, even your pets can provide the vehicle to get ticks to your skin. I have had two ticks attached in the triceps area and I can surmise that, while holding a chicken or putting my arm around my dog, the ticks crawled right on. No, you usually do not feel them. Even if your pets have Seresto collars or other vet-prescribed tick meds, the ticks can still be transported on the fur of your pet. Chickens and guinea hens eat ticks, but if a tick latches on feathers before preening time, you are out of luck.
Now, keep in mind that ticks are vector parasites: they carry and spread diseases, but they do not get sick from the diseases that they carry. They go through each phase of life biting hosts and spreading Lyme Disease, the effects of which I will not delve into because they are too numerous and terrible. If you want to learn more about that, go here, but know that the bulls-eye rash does NOT show up on about 30% of subjects bitten, just like it did not on my mom, nor my best friend.
Ticks in the nymph phase are able to transmit Lyme. I offer, for your disgust, these images of a tick that I removed from my parents' dog, Mick, recently. First, know that the tick is NOT dead, even though its legs are in the traditional 'dead bug' position. I once kept a tick in a sealed jar for ONE MONTH, no air or water. It had shriveled up to nothing. On Day 31, I opened the jar at 8:30AM and re-closed it. By 10:30AM that thing was moving, I kid you not. Please note that a placed a ball point pen near the tick. Now go open a ball point pen and look at the roller. That is how small these things are in the nymph phase. When they morph in adults, they are only the size of an apple seed.
Same tick, but next to it is the pair of tweezers that I was about to kill it with, all setting on a paper towel. THE ONLY WAY to kill ticks is to treat them like the little zombies they are and STAB THEM IN THE HEAD. They do not drown, as mentioned above, depriving them of oxygen does not kill them. See the two pointy things coming from the head? That is its 'mouthparts' that ticks embed in your skin, or your pets, as they suck your blood and spread disease to you. If you do not remove them properly and leave the mouth behind, THE TICK WILL KEEP FEEDING AND SPREADING DISEASE! People often use tweezers to remove ticks. There are MANY issues with this method, including the mouth breaking off in you or your pet and you would never know it. Then you would have to go to the ER/ED or to an urgent care center to have it dug out. Not my idea of a good time.
This is how I SAFELY and COMPLETELY removed the deer tick from Mick's skin (and from my own about a month ago). Drum roll... The Original Tick Twister by OTOM! The link will take you to a TWO PACK (each pack has two sizes), so for less than a dollar more than one set, you get TWO SETS of Tick Twisters! I bought one for us for my travel bag and one for friends who did not have this incredible little device, and I also have a set for my purse so I have them with me wherever I go. The very first picture (at top) shows the tick stuck in the smaller size Tick Twister, just right for holding the tick while you stab it in the head with the sharp, pointy end of tweezers! After use, I disinfect everything, tools and surfaces, with alcohol using a cotton round or a Qtip.
On my boots, pants and shirts that I wear outside to mow, chicken keep, weed, etc., I use this awesome product: Repel Clothing and Gear Insect Repellent. This particular product is NOT FOR SKIN, but for any fabric or porous surface that you want the creepy crawly disease spreaders to stay OFF of, this is the stuff. It lasts up to two weeks! Just spray it on and let dry before anything touches your skin. I actually write NOT FOR SKIN in silver Sharpie on the top of the cap and cover it with scotch tape, just so everyone knows!
On my skin, I use only this product because it WORKS for ALL biting insects, even for my 0+ blood mosquito-magnet self! The greatest part about Avon Expedition Bug Guard Plus Repellent is that there is no Deet so you do NOT have to wash it off every night (read: camping!) and it also has SPF28 which works all day, even while sweating! This is NOT Skin So Soft Bath Oil! Truly the best bug repellent on the market, it is unscented for which my allergic-to-everything-scented sinuses are very appreciative!
Once you are in for the day, SHOWER and use bare hands to lather up so you can FEEL anything abnormal. Washcloths, sponges and any other bathing aid will not let you feel for the little suckers! Use those only after you have felt every inch of your skin. If you have questions about ANYTHING I have talked about in this blog post, please ask! Be safe out there! Thanks for reading!
~Stacie at Blue Sky and Blooms
Here's Mick, in case you love dogs, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment