Intermittent warming weather encourages people to increase their outdoor activities and their pets accompany them.
Lying in wait are ticks, the eight-legged, blood sucking, icky insects that carry more disease and cause more death worldwide than most other members of the biosphere, including mosquitoes. Other than dedicated tick researchers and a few entomologists, most people dislike ticks greatly.
Some people even get a physical response to the simple mention of the crawly creatures. Some people shiver and utter a low guttural response. Others fold their arms and begin to itch without a tick in sight.
There are ways however, to keep ticks off you and your pets. But let’s address the elephant in the room first. How does one remove a tick safely once they find it embedded on themselves or their animals?
There is a plethora of bad advice out there and for brevity’s sake, just ignore it. The best way to remove a tick is by using tweezers to grasp the body and apply gentle, constant traction. That force is enough to get the tiny beast to let go. Afterwards, cleanse the area with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer.
Next, dispose of the tick by dropping it in a small amount of alcohol (yes, vodka will do, too). One can also flush it down the toilet, smash it with your fingers between several sheets of waste paper, or drop it on the ground away from pets and grind it under foot.
In all instances when dealing with ticks, be sure to cleanse your hands as well as you can using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Another point to make is that no matter how good of pet parent one is, there is a strong likelihood that one will find a tick or ticks on a pet. That does not mean you are an irresponsible owner. It simply means that the about 850 species of ticks worldwide are near omnipresent in their two major families, hard ticks, and soft-bodied ticks.
That said, it is very important to search pets, kids, and oneself carefully when leaving the field. It is far better to find a crawling tick than to have to deal with one already ingesting blood.
Preventing ticks from burrowing in means there are any number of good flea and tick repellents available over the counter and through your veterinarian’s office. If you have no experience with these collars and oily penetrants, especially with cats, contact your veterinarian and have them educate and advise you on how best to use these products.
Once temps get above 45 degrees, there is always a potential for ticks. These members of the same family as spiders have a behavior called questing. That is, they crawl up on taller grasses and brush, (sagebrush is notorious), where they wait for an animal or person to come along. Holding their legs in the air, the ticks will grab onto fur or clothing when it comes by.
Tick populations are expanding in many regions of the world. They also carry a number of diseases that affect humans, too long to mention here. To keep them from getting on you, wear longer socks and tuck long pant legs in the top. Similarly, wear a shirt tucked in at the waist and secured with a belt. This minimizes access to your skin. If it is too hot to do this, this article means nothing to you.
Tick repellents using DEET or some other naturally occurring chemicals from plants should also be employed. Ticks like to burrow into the ankles, groin, waistline, and armpits.
Powell is the retired public information officer for Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. This column reflects his thoughts and no longer represents WSU. For questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, email charliepowell74@gmail.com.
