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Reducing Your Risk of Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Illnesses by Mary Holman

When spring finally comes and we are all anxious to get outside to check on our flowering bulbs and bushes, plant our gardens, get the boat ready, or remove the leaves and branches that piled up in the yard with the winds of fall and winter, it is easy to forget the danger that even a short walk outside can present. The adult black-legged, or deer, ticks that molted last October and that didn’t find a deer, pet, or human to feed on before the weather turned really cold are waiting anxiously to climb onto the leg of any large warm-blooded animal that passes by. They hide in the leaf litter and debris where they dropped off a mouse they fed on as a tiny nymph last summer. They will be looking for a host whenever the temperature is above freezing and there is no snow cover. My cat Luna brought home her last deer tick of 2015 on December 28th and her first one of 2016 on March 20 th ! It is still possible in May to find the last few adult ticks “left over” from the year before. The adult deer ticks are much easier to see and feel than the tiny nymphs that can be found from mid-May until early August. The best way to protect yourself from the bite of any deer tick is to be constantly aware of your surroundings and to avoid walking in unmowed areas without taking precautions. Remember that ticks crawl onto you when you brush up against weeds or walk through brushy areas. You are more likely to see ticks that have gotten onto you if you wear light-colored pants that are tucked into your socks and you periodically inspect your pant legs. Spraying your pant legs and socks with bug spray containing DEET (such as OFF!) gives you further protection. Even better protection is afforded by wearing outdoor clothes that have been treated to repel ticks and mosquitoes. You can buy these locally and in hunting and fishing catalogs. I treat my own clothes with permethrin (Sawyer’s Premium Insect Repellent, available locally at L.L. Bean and Cabela’s). If applied according to the manufacturer’s instructions and allowed to dry before wearing, permethrin-treated clothes will be impossible for a tick to walk on and will offer protection through many washings. Last year, I found a dog tick walking up the side of my house. I put the tick on my treated gardening overalls as a test, and the tick just fell off immediately. Of course, it’s not practical to put your anti-tick clothing on for every brief trip outside, but you can try to stay in “safer” areas when you are not protected. Unlike the much more rugged dog, or wood, ticks, deer ticks dry out easily and need to be able to crawl back into the damp leaf litter, so you will not find them in the middle of a mowed area. Research has shown that making a border of wood chips around a garden or a play

area and covering your path into the woods with wood chips reduces your risk of encountering a deer tick.

Remember to check for ticks whenever you have been outside in unmowed areas and regularly monitor yourself for the “bull’s- eye” rash that may signal the transmission of Lyme disease.

FACT: Ticks have three life stages, and they only eat once in each stage.

FACT: Deer ticks pick up the bacteria that causes Lyme disease from mice, voles, rats, birds, and small animals, but not from deer.

FACT: A female tick lays an egg mass that is larger than her own body.

FACT: Some habitats and plants are more favorable for deer ticks to live in or near.

FACT: Deer ticks can transmit several different diseases to humans, some of which can be far more dangerous than Lyme disease. To learn more, come to my talk “Lyme Disease—The Basics and Beyond” at 7:00 p.m. June 28 th at the Hall.

Deer Ticks vs. Dog Ticks

Top Row: Black-legged, or Deer, Ticks. Left to Right: nymph, adult male, adult female, fully engorged female. Infected deer ticks can transmit Lyme disease. Bottom Row: Dog, or Wood, Ticks. Left to Right: adult male, adult female, fully engorged female. Dog ticks are not associated with the transmission of Lyme disease.

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June 2016 CHEBEAGUE ISLAND COUNCIL CALENDAR