With the weather starting to get warmer, the bugs and insects will start to come out. Ticks are no exception. The thought of these little blood suckers invading your yard can become very intimidating. But, if you know what to look for and what to do in the event of a bite you can still enjoy the outdoors.
What Does a Tick Look Like?
A tick is closely related to the spider family. It will have eight legs just like the spider but will not spin a web. The tick can range in size from small to large depending on its life cycle. A tick can be as small as a grain of sand when it’s in the larvae stage, the nymph stage or medium size is about the size of a poppy seed, and the adult is the size of an apple seed. The color can range anywhere from black, brown, reddish-brown, yellow and greyish-white.
How Do Ticks Travel?
Ticks are not jumpers. The ticks will travel by crawling and attaching themselves to the hair of their prey. A tick will move from one mammal to another feeding on the blood. They hide in thick foliage around wooded areas. They then attach to mammals like rodents, deer and squirrels. If you are walking through the infested area, you can then become the ticks feeding ground.
Diseases Transmitted from Ticks
There are several diseases that are ticks transmit. These diseases include Lyme, Anaplasma, Babesia protozoa and Ehrlichia. Some ticks can transmit multiple diseases at once. But, Lyme disease is only transmitted from a deer tick bite.
Removing a Tick and Treatment
The best way to remove a tick is with pointy tweezers. You will need to remain calm because you want to make sure you remove the tick completely. With the tweezers, you will want to pull the tick straight up by the head off your skin. You need to get as close to your skin and the head as possible. If the tick’s straw-like mouth does not come out when you remove the tick, do not worry it will work its way out. You need to either flush the tick down the toilet or place in a sealed bag for removal. Then wash the area with soap and water or clean with an alcohol swab.
Symptoms of a Tick Bite
If after 24 hours you start to develop symptoms like a rash, headache, fever and vomiting. If you develop any of these symptoms after a tick bite, contact your doctor immediately.
Tick Prevention
Tick bites and infestations are preventable. Contact Hart Pest Control for your free consultation for your tick or other insect related problems.