Pam’s Perspective
From the…
Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District
May 31, 2013
To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, you can’t fool all the people all the time, but if you want to gross ’em out, every time, you only have to mention one word.
Ticks.
Few creatures have the potential to repulse more people than this small member of the class Arachnida. About the size and shape of a small watermelon seed, these critters really aren’t any more offensive-looking than your average invertebrate. They do however have one unfortunate habit: They require a blood meal during each phase of their development.
Here’s a little bit of background. The tick life cycle has four distinct stages: egg; larva, which has six legs; nymph, which has eight legs; and adult, also with eight legs. To “graduate” from one stage to the next, the tick must find an appropriate host, feed, drop off and molt.
Unlike mosquitoes, where only the female takes blood, because she needs it to complete her egg-laying cycle, both male and female ticks feed on blood; however, only the female becomes – grossly – engorged.
However, since ticks can’t fly or jump, they’ve really got to depend on luck for this entire process to work. This time of year, they’re hanging out on the tips of grass blades and the leaves of shrubs, hoping against hope that a host will come along. Should an animal or person brush past, hot diggity, the gravy train has arrived!
Once aboard a host, be it mouse or man, ticks usually take their time finding a feeding site.
As a somewhat seasoned traveler, I totally can relate; maybe you can too. Whenever I find myself in a new town, I never like to eat at the first place I see. Instead, I cruise around a bit, in hopes of finding a place that’s clean, has good food and, ideally, no wait for seating.
Ticks, though they use a slightly different set of criteria, have the same objective in mind. They’re looking for a place where they can anchor themselves (using not only their piercing, clingy mouthparts, but also a glue-like substance appropriately called cement) for a few days and feed undisturbed. Really any body part is fair game, but areas where blood supplies are richest, i.e. the head and neck regions, are preferred.
American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) are our area’s most common tick. Although they may superficially resemble the “deer” or black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) – a species frequently cited as a vector for Lyme disease – they have many significant differences. Dog ticks typically are brown, with a pattern that varies with gender. Females have a light-colored semicircle behind the head, while males have a striped pattern. (Remember it this way—ladies have necklaces while guys wear suspenders.)
Deer ticks, meanwhile, are darker in color. The females look like a small watermelon seed that’s had its wider end dipped in reddish-brown paint. Males are basically all dark, with little or no discernible pattern.
Even though it’s the deer ticks that have been linked to Lyme disease, all ticks have the potential to transmit pathogens once they’ve dug in and attached.
To minimize the chance of ticks getting too comfortable at Café du Your, follow these simple steps:
• Wear closed-toe shoes and socks when heading outdoors, and long pants and a long-sleeved shirt that are light in color. Ticks show up better against light colors. The quicker you spot one, the quicker you can get rid of it.
• Tuck your pant legs into your socks. Yes, it looks geeky, but it seals up two main areas where ticks can gain access to your skin. Want to up the safety—and—geek quotient? Tape the juncture where the pants and socks meet.
• Apply an insect repellent to shoes and socks, around the waist and on exposed skin. Most insect repellents recommended for use against mosquitoes usually work well against ticks.
• Examine yourself—and your pets—carefully for ticks and try to find them before they attach.
• Remove attached ticks using tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull using a slow, steady motion. No twisting! Then disinfect the bite area. Avoid any method that might alarm the tick – this includes burning it with a match, or covering it with Vaseline or nail polish. An alarmed tick is more likely to regurgitate and cause infection. Dispose of ticks by wrapping them in tape or placing in a small vial of alcohol for later identification.
Note: A few days ago, when I began this column, ticks were everywhere. One particularly notable day, I found 26 dog ticks crawling on my clothing and legs; another time the array also included a deer tick. Thankfully, all were found before they attached.
But yesterday, Friday, I went out to photograph a few specimens and…nothing. I walked through tall grass, I pushed through shrubs. My coworker Denis even went out asparagus hunting, and came back with lots of tender green spears but, alas, not a single tick.
Perhaps they are starting to subside, as they usually do, after their initial spring rush. Or maybe the recent wind and rain temporarily knocked them back.
Or, maybe they’re just biding their time, watching the clock…tick, tick, tick…
Pam Otto is the manager of nature programs and interpretive services at the Hickory Knolls Discovery Center, a facility of the St. Charles Park District. She can be reached at 630-513-4346 or potto@stcparks.org.