Spring is here! The kids are energetic, the birds are singing, and the ticks are coming out to play. We’ve found a few ticks in our programs, so I figured I’d write up a some useful info about the little buggers.
Ticks can be intimidating denizens of the woods. Knowing the danger, but not knowing how to protect against it, can keep some people indoors out of fear. If we stay indoors we’ll stay afraid. If we come outside, learn to observe and understand ticks, we may come up with our own answer to the question of how to live in balance along side parts of nature with which we’re currently at odds.
What is a tick?
Ticks are arachnids, like spiders. In California, we have nine species of ticks. Only one of those species can carry Lyme disease.
Ixodes pacificus, the Western Black Legged Tick, sometimes called a deer tick, is the only local species that can carry Lyme. It’s a three-host tick, meaning that it feeds and molts three times in it’s life cycle. Newly-hatched larval ticks only have six legs, are tiny, and probably won’t give you any diseases if they bite because they’ve never bitten anyone before you. After the larvae feed, they shed their skin (molt) and become 8-legged nymphs. Nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed, and may carry Lyme if their first host had the disease. They’re considered the most at-risk for transmitting Lyme, because they’re so tiny they often go unnoticed. After nymphs feed they molt again, becoming adults. The adults feed again, mate, and start the cycle over again.
What is Lyme disease and how common is it?
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection first documented in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut, and is caused by a spirochaete bacterium (illustrated below). The infection is far older, though, with Otzi, the Austrian iceman being it’s oldest documented case, having lived 5,300 years ago in Europe. Lyme is now thought to be native to most continents.
Some studies have found that only 2% of California’s ticks are infected with Lyme, while others found percentages up to 15%. The CDC does classify the Bay Area as a hot spot for Lyme infections. Common early signs of Lyme seem to be a flu-like illness within a couple of weeks of getting a tick bite, and then chronic fatigue and lethargy. The famous “bull’s eye” rash only happens in 50% of cases. Lyme is easily curable with antibiotics if caught soon after infection. Other alternative therapies also exist.
Western Fence Lizards, or Bluebellies, Sceloporus occidentalis, can cleanse ticks of Lyme. A tick that bites a Fence Lizard can then no longer carry Lyme. Build lizard habitat in your yard!
Where can I find a tick?
Though more ticks hatch when the weather warms up in spring, you can find examples of all life stages active in the woods and grasslands at most times of year. Anywhere deer or other smaller animals regularly roam and make their beds, you’ll find ticks. I once knelt in a deer’s day bed, and when I stood up I found 20 nymphal ticks crawling up my pant leg. Icky I know, but I was able to notice them because I knew to check for ticks after being near deer sign, and I was able to find and remove all of them.
Ticks cannot jump, but find hosts by smell and vibration, either crawling slowly toward the host over the ground or waiting with their front legs outstretched (a behavior called “questing”) on branches and grass for the host to brush past. If you find a questing tick, brush your hand past it and see how easily (or clumsily) it can latch on — it’s OK, it won’t bite immediately. Just don’t let it crawl up your sleeve.
How can I keep ticks from biting me?
Some folks try to avoid ticks in the first place and simply don’t go into the woods. But with ticks present in every county in California, even the urban areas, there are always ways for ticks to find us, whether on a friends clothing, from the deer that pass by the neighborhood park, from the family dog, or from the birds at the bird feeder. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to carefully check for ticks every day.
Once they find a potential host, ticks are picky about where they’ll settle down. They can often crawl around for hours in clothing looking for the perfect place. So, the first thing to do after coming in from the woods is strip off all your woods clothes and put them in a plastic bag. You can launder them right then, ridding them of ticks, or you can keep them for further woods-use. Just remember that they might have ticks in them, so seal the bag when you’re not using the clothes, and check your body for ticks after you take the clothes off again.
The next step in tick prevention is to check your body. Ticks generally chose a dark, moist area to bite, and underwear bands are a favorite spot. Crotch, underarms, behind the ears, and in the hairline are other areas to check well. Then take a shower. Soap and water will wash off any larval or nymphal ticks that might still be crawling around.
What if I have a tick biting me?
If you find an embedded tick, use fine-tipped or specialized tick tweezers to pull it out. Place the tweezers as close to the snout of the tick as possible. Pull the tick straight out with constant, gentle, firm pressure. Don’t jerk, twist, burn, squeeze, or paint it with vaseline or nail polish. If the tick is a Black-Legged, save it in a glass jar and watch yourself for symptoms for a couple of weeks.
As an additional measure, you can make your own tick repellent oil. Here’s a recipe we’ve used in our programs (makes about 10 oz. of repellent.)
8 oz. sweet almond oil
2-4 oz. pure aloe vera gel
5 mL citronella essential oil
5-10 mL rose geranium essential oil
5-10 mL lemon eucalyptus essential oil
Combine and shake well.
Conclusion
Ticks and Lyme disease are both native creatures to all the lands where we live. If we want to be part of nature, we must learn how to live alongside it’s hazards. Without any of our modern medicine and technology, our ancestors learned to live with ticks for thousands of years. What methods did our ancestors know that helped them to live in balance with ticks?
Additional information:
Common Ticks of San Mateo County
What purpose do ticks serve in the ecosystem?
California Lyme Disease Association
Lyme Disease in California — UC IPM