How and Why to Check for Ticks Every Night
Blacklegged ticks, more commonly referred to as deer ticks, are one of the more annoying aspects of the northeast woods. No bigger than a sesame seed, and sometimes as small as a poppy seed these little blood-thirsty buggers can potentially carry nasty diseases such as Lyme. However, and let me state this loud and clear: TICKS ARE NOT A GOOD REASON TO BE SCARED OF GOING OUTSIDE. Ticks are something you should be aware of, and check for diligently, but they are not necessarily dangerous, nor should they keep you from enjoying the natural world.
Blacklegged ticks have a two year lifecycle. Larva hatch out of eggs in the spring of their first year. To help them overwinter and develop into nymphs they require a blood meal. This can can from any warm blooded organism including birds, mice, deer, or us. In the spring of their second year nymphs also need a blood meal to grow into adults. Finally by the fall of their second year adults need a blood meal to aid in egg laying. After that the adults die, but the new eggs begin the cycle again.
You are most likely to pickup a tick when walking in tall grass or shrubby areas. The abundance of ticks in a given area or year depends on many things such as the previous years acorn crop (which affects this years mice and chipmunk population and so on).
Because I spend so much of my time in the woods I check for ticks every single night. Obviously you don’t need to do this if you work in an office. But when you do get out into the woods it’s imperative that you check your entire body for new black little “freckles" that you didn’t have before.
I check just before and during my showers. I first scan my whole body in the mirror, then I run my hands over myself feeling for tiny little scab-like flaps.
If you find a tick crawling on you simply take it off (a piece of tape works well for this) and dispose of it. If however, the tick is imbedded into your skin you need to monitor the bite closely after you remove the tick. If you find an embedded tick you can slide it our of your skin with the sharp edge of a credit card and tweezers.
In general a tick needs to be imbedded in you for at least 24 hours to transmit a disease. However if you notice a red ring around the bite notify your doctor immediately. If you catch Lyme disease early it is easy to treat with antibiotics. Latent Lyme is much more difficult to treat and can leave you with terrible long lasting effects.
Go out, enjoy, learn, appreciate nature, and be aware of ticks!
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