Sunday, June 28, 2020

Wabbit Season! Duck Season! Nope, It’s Tick Season! ©


 
A sign posted in Letchworth State Park, near the Mt. Morris Dam overlook, photograph by the author.

Do you remember Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck saying, “Duck Season!  Wabbit Season!” to Elmer Fudd?  What they should have been saying is “Tick Season”!

Tick season is any time temperatures get over freezing, with ticks becoming active at 45o Fahrenheit (approximately 7o Celsius).  The New York State Department of Health, notes that juvenile Deer ticks are active from the middle of May to the middle of August and adult deer ticks are the most active from March to the middle of May and then from the middle of August through November1. 

Well,” you say, “since it is almost July and it is over 45o Fahrenheit (or 7o Celsius) everywhere in North America, what ticks do I have to watch out for the most, how do I keep from getting bit and what do I do if I do get bit?

Excellent questions!  So, let’s take them one at a time.


 
An excerpt from “Ticks”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three ticks that most commonly bite humans are the Deer or Black-legged tick, (ixodes scapularis), the American Dog tick, (dermacentor variablis), and the Lone-star tick, (amblyomma americanum), which was originally was found mostly in the southern parts of the United States, but now is becoming more common in the northern states as well.
 
An excerpt from “Ticks”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



 
Part of the sign posted in Letchworth State Park, near the Mt. Morris Dam overlook, photograph by the author.

Okay, nobody wants to get bit by a tick, so what do you do to prevent an icky, nasty tick from crawling on you and biting you?  To avoid getting a tick on you, you should do the following:
  
·       Wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants and wear light colored clothing, so that ticks can easily be spotted.  Also, tuck your pants into your socks or boots.  
·       Check your clothing and any exposed skin frequently and always check when you come inside after being outdoors.  Remember, ticks can crawl up your clothes and get bite your head or neck, so check these areas too.
·       Avoid tick infested areas like dense woods, brushy areas and the edge area between woods and lawns and walk in the center of trails.
·       Avoid sitting directly on the ground or on stones.
·       Use a repellent, like DEET, or treat your clothes with Permethrin (for more on Permethrin, read “Why Permethrin?...Mosquitos, Ticks and Flies…Oh My! ©”, HERE, or for a video go HERE).
·       Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming inside.



 
A Lone Star tick on the author’s leg, photograph by the author.

Oh no!  You got bit by a tick, now what do you do?  First off don’t panic!  There are several different tick removal devices for sale, but a simple fine-tipped set of tweezers works well.  The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests pulling the tick off with fine-tipped tweezers or tick removal tools and they discourage using old folklore methods, such as smearing the tick with petroleum jelly, painting it with nail polish, or applying something hot to it, because you don’t want to wait for it to detach on its own, the key is to remove the tick as soon as possible!  The sooner you remove the tick the better, since your chance of contracting a disease from a tick is low if you remove it within 36 hours2. 

 
An excerpt from “Tick Bite: What To Do”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are the CDC’s instructions on how to remove a tick3.
  
·       Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
·       Pull upward with steady, even pressure.  Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin.  If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers.  If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
·       After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
·       Never crush a tick with your fingers.  Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.

 
The site of a Lone Star tick bite on the author’s leg, photograph by the author.

Personally, if I pick up a tick, I always take a picture of the tick, just before I remove it.  After I remove the tick and wash the area, I circle the bite location, with a permanent magic marker, that way I can continue to watch the bite site for signs of a rash or infection. 

If you do develop a fever, fatigue, headache, muscle ache, joint swelling and pain or a rash, within the first three to four weeks, about 30 days, see a doctor.  If you develop an infection or bullseye like rash, which is white, then black and then red around the bite-site, in the first several days, contact your doctor.  Be sure to tell your doctor when you were bitten and where you think that you picked up the tick.

 
An excerpt from “Tick Removal Card”, New York State Department of Health.



·       Adult ticks are about the size of sesame seeds and nymphs are the size of poppy seeds4.
·       Ticks live in shady, moist areas
·       Ticks crawl, they cannot fly or jump, and per the New York State Department of Health, they do not drop onto passing people5.
·       Ticks will cling to grass or other plants by their lower legs, usually no more than 18 to 24” off the ground.  They hold their upper pair of legs outstretched, waiting to climb onto a passing host.  They then crawl upwards to find a suitable, protected place to bite and feed upon the host6.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!


Notes

1 “Be Tick Free - A Guide for Preventing Lyme Disease”, New York State Department of Health

2 “Tick Bite: What To Do”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

3 “Tick Removal”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

4 “Be Tick Free - A Guide for Preventing Lyme Disease”, New York State Department of Health

5 “Ticks & Lyme Disease - A Guide for Preventing Lyme Disease”, New York State Department of Health

6 Ibid.

Sources

“Ticks”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; January 10, 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/, accessed 6/22/20

“Tick Removal”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; January 10, 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html, accessed 6/25/20

“Tick Bite: What To Do”, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; January 10, 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/pdfs/FS_TickBite-508.pdf, accessed 6/25/20

Stafford, Kirby C., III; “Managing Exposure to Ticks on Your Property”, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, [New haven, CT, 2014 ] https://www.co.monmouth.nj.us/documents/61/CAES%20Managing%20Ticks%20on%20Your%20Propery.pdf, accessed 6/22/20


“Be Tick Free - A Guide for Preventing Lyme Disease”, New York State Department of Health, https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2825/#:~:text=Adult%20ticks%2C%20which%20are%20approximately,found%20throughout%20New%20York%20State., accessed 6/22/20

“Tick Removal Card”, New York State Department of Health, https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/lyme/docs/tick_removal_card.pdf, accessed 6/25/20

Schlanger, Zoe; “Lyme Disease Season Is Here”, The New York Times as reprinted by The Buffalo News, June 20, 2020, page 6-7

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