It’s tick season again, learn to live with them
It’s tick season already; don’t forget to look every day
I can hear you groaning now with the thought that tick season has begun in earnest so soon. Actually, our woodlot neighbour found a tick on their dog more than a month ago, providing further evidence that ticks can appear 12 months of the year. Just ask your friendly neighbourhood vet and they will confirm this.
Many Nova Scotians recognize that the tick population has been increasing significantly over the last several years. Unfortunately, so has the incidence of Lyme Disease. At one time, not so many years ago, Lyme Disease was thought to be a possibility only in the southwest part of the province. Now, it is being found throughout most of the province. There are some host spots, such as parts of Pictou County, where up to 40 per cent of the black legged (deer) ticks were found to contain the bacteria that causes Lyme. Black-legged ticks can now be found all across the province in long (and sometimes short) grass, leaf litter, shrubs, forested areas, parks and gardens.
At a recent Woodland Conference in Millbrook, Vett Lloyd, a tick expert and professor at Mount Alison University, reported that across North America there have recently been six times more Lyme infections than HIV infections. The three most common ticks in Nova Scotia are wood (dog) tick, black-legged tick and groundhog tick. The black-legged tick gets most of the attention because of its ability to carry the Lyme Borrelia bacteria which can cause devastating, and even lethal health effects.
Ticks generally arrive in Nova Scotia by birds. Once the tick is finished getting a bloodmeal from the bird, it drops off to the ground. They get around on the ground by grabbing onto small and large mammals like mice, deer and humans where they enjoy more meals. Female ticks can produce thousands of young each hatching which then spread out and do their circle of life, and so on. It is not difficult to imagine how the tick populations have been expanding as our climate has been warming in recent years – another example of the negative impact of the Climate Crisis.
Vett stressed that it is important to recognize that ticks in general, can transmit many different types of pathogens to their human hosts. Lyme bacteria is the most common, and once infected, sets the stage for other related infections that are often very problematic to victims, often who don’t even know they were bitten. She indicated that research has unearthed eye-opening scenarios such as: In the Sackville, N.B. area, three to 10 per cent of mice have the Lyme bacteria; as do three per cent of crows and 10 per cent of porcupines. Incredibly, 61 per cent of New Brunswick horses have Lyme infection antibodies and 80 per cent of cows in Nova Scotia.
Vett’s main message was that ticks have been around a long time and they will be with us a long time into the future, so we had better learn how to adapt to them being a regular part of our lives. It was commonly thought that ticks were not outside during the cold season, but sadly that is not necessarily the case. Research has indicated they can be found outside looking to hitch a bloodmeal ride at temperatures 4C and above. There are two big bump seasons for tick activity with the highest risk, according to Vett’s research, in the spring and fall.
Protecting Yourself Against Tick Bites
Because it is important for us to be out enjoying the many benefits of nature, it is very difficult to avoid all possible tick habitat. Practically speaking, ticks could be virtually anywhere outside where they may have dropped from an animal such as a bird or deer, which are so plentiful. Even well-manicured lawns can host ticks. It is more difficult for them to hitch rides from short grass, than higher growing vegetation.
We can help deter ticks around our homes by making it unattractive for ticks. That could mean eliminating high grass near your home, removing leaves, low growing shrubs and brush.
One fairly effective method to reduce ticks from reaching our skin is to cover up exposed body parts, especially legs. I strongly recommend following “forest fashion” by tucking pants in one’s socks. This prevents ticks from taking the easy route up one’s socks to the bare leg under the pants. Ticks climbing up pants can often be spotted, especially if the socks and pants are light coloured.
Insect repellents containing DEET or Icaridum can repel ticks when used according to the Health Canada label. Similarly, clothes treated with permethrin have proven to be effective at repelling ticks for several washings.
According to Vett, the second part of our adaptation to life with ticks is early detection and treatment. It is essential that everyone who goes outside is in the habit of doing a full body search for ticks each and every day. This is a lot to expect, but if you talk to anyone who has had Lyme - including Vett, who was fortunate to get early treatment to prevent long term health consequences – it is well worth the time and hassle.
It is important to realize that Lyme Disease is a very serious infliction if not caught in the first few weeks. If detected early, antibiotics can take care of it. However, if it is not dealt with soon, it often results in serious ailments, possibly death. One of the problems related to Lyme is that often the infected person doesn’t know that they were bitten by a tick to tell the doctor.