Ticked Off

I don’t like ticks. Sure, they are fascinating arachnids with their complicated life cycles and telescoping barbed mouthparts that resemble some kind of sinister medieval sword. There’s just something about them that scares me.

Perhaps it’s the way they creepily hang out in wooded areas or on tall blades of grass with their front legs spread out waiting for an unsuspecting victim to wander by (a behavior called questing). Maybe it’s the way they stealthily sneak around your body being undetected until settling on an exposed area of skin to begin feeding.

Or it could be that they slowly insert their barbaric-looking mouthparts into your skin without you feeling it and begin engorging themselves, taking in up to 600 times their body weight of your blood, a process that can last for days before dislodging and heading back to their retreats.

No, it’s not any of that. Ticks scare me because of the side effects from that process. They can transmit some pretty nasty diseases. While tick-borne illnesses don’t result in nearly as many deaths as mosquito- borne illnesses, they can cause many years of pain and suffering.

Babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Lyme disease and the fairly new Powassan disease are just a few examples of the illnesses caused by tick bites. Symptoms of these diseases may not occur for several days after feeding but can last for many years. Then there’s Alpha-gal syndrome, which leads to the victim developing a serious allergy to red meat. Yikes!

Also, there is this funny thing called tick paralysis. Some people, and pets, slowly develop paralysis while the tick is feeding. If the tick is not found and removed it will lead to death. But once removed, recovery from the paralysis is almost instantaneous.

So, all of these creepy crazy things ticks do is why I don’t really like them very much. In case you’re like me and want to avoid tangling with them, here are some tips on prevention you can use and provide to customers.

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND? Ticks mostly hang out in wooded or tall grassy areas. Avoid ticks by staying home. If the allure of the great outdoors is too much to stay inside, then tell customers to take precautions when venturing out. If you’re going to visit an area where ticks might be hanging out, be sure to use plenty of insect repellent. Apply to all areas not covered with clothing. Once you return, do a thorough body check for ticks. Ticks like to attach themselves to hidden areas like armpits, the waistline, behind ears and under hair.

Dogs will get ticks when they venture into certain areas and bring them back home. If you do have dogs, be sure to keep them on a veterinarian-prescribed tick prevention medication. Also, be sure to regularly examine them for ticks and carefully remove them when found.

Good lawn maintenance will help keep ticks out of your yard. Be sure to keep grass cut, bushes trimmed and remove clutter.

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Wildlife, such as deer, can bring ticks into your customers’ yards. Use fencing or other methods to keep them out.

AFTER THE BITE. If a tick is found, use tweezers to grab it by the head and slowly work it out of the skin. Be careful as you don’t want to risk the mouthparts breaking off under the skin as this can lead to an infection. The good news is that most tick-borne diseases are not transferred until after several hours of feeding. Therefore, the sooner the tick is discovered and removed, the better off you are.

Once the tick is completely removed with tweezers, wash the affected area with antibacterial soap.

Place the tick in a small ziplock bag or pill container along with a note of the date it was removed. Keep the tick in the freezer in case symptoms of an illness begin to occur.

If you begin to experience symptoms such as fever, numbness, muscular or joint pain, chills, confusion or if you develop a rash or swelling at the site of the bite, go see your doctor and take the tick with you.

I’ll just stay inside. While ticks are mostly an outdoor issue, the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) is capable of infesting homes. Let me share an interesting story with you.

A customer developed a brown dog tick infestation in her home. Technicians treated inside and outside of her home while she took her dogs to the vet to get them treated. After several more treatments with only limited success, they called me in to see if I could offer any advice.

The customer had continued to take her dogs for treatments and cleaned the home constantly but still found ticks on a daily basis. She also had sequestered the dogs to one room downstairs, but the upstairs bedroom was where most of the ticks were being found.

During my visit, we did an intensive crack and crevice and baseboard treatment. We also removed all switch plates and dusted behind them and into the wall voids. We probably found a couple of dozen ticks in various places, including behind some of the switch plates and a large cluster of eggs in a filing cabinet. We also treated all the places the dogs visit inside and outside.

I don’t like ticks. Sure, they are fascinating arachnids with complicated life cycles and barbed mouthparts that resemble some kind of sinister medieval sword. There’s just something about them that scares me.

When we finished, we felt confident that a thorough treatment had been done and were hopeful that this would yield better results. Unfortunately, it did not.

While the homeowner was happy with our efforts, she was frustrated that the ticks were still there. She called a Clemson University extension office just to see if they could offer any other advice on solving this issue.

The person she spoke with told her that when dealing with a tick infestation you need to do four things: No. 1, treat the animals; No. 2, treat the inside of the home; No. 3, treat the outside of the home; and No. 4, clean thoroughly.

She said all of these had been done repeatedly and they are still finding ticks. She wanted to know if there was anything else she could do. After some hesitation, he said there was one thing he heard about, but he didn’t know if it actually worked. He told her the problem with ticks is getting them to move out of hiding places to contact treated areas, and she may be able to get them moving if she could place some dry ice in the room.

So, she went out and bought a $4 bag of dry ice and placed it in a bowl in the bedroom. She said that within minutes, lots of ticks began coming out! They came out from everywhere and were migrating toward the dry ice.

She called and told us this, so we had to come see for ourselves. She was using masking tape to collect them as she saw them. When we arrived, we joined in and helped her collect ticks for about an hour.

We collected hundreds and nearly used up an entire roll of masking tape. After that day, she no longer had an issue with ticks inside the home.

As an entomologist working in the pest control industry, I sometimes get asked if there are any particular pests that scare me. My answer is always ticks.

The author is technical director at Terminix Service