September 8, 2022 at 11:15 a.m.
Fall is a concern for ticks
Adult females looking for blood meals
Fall is a concern for ticks
According to The UW-Madison Department of Entomology, at this time of year adult ticks are looking for medium to large hosts, particularly white-tailed deer. Females feed on deer and other large mammals, mate, lay eggs and die.
Frost does not kill black-legged ticks, those responsible for Lyme disease. Adults can become active as soon as it is above freezing. They have even been known to be seen during a temporary winter thaw.
In a series of webinars last spring, Ashland County's UW-Extension office spoke about tick education, tickborne diseases and how to prevent bites. That advice comes into play again this fall and into early winter. PJ Liesch was one of the presenter and had some advice on keeping safe from ticks, which is still helpful in fall.
Ticks will wait on that low-hanging vegetation until a likely host brushes by them. From there, Liesch said, it takes a tick minutes to hours to actually attach to the host. From there the tick typically remains attached for up to a week. Ticks, he said, do not actually bury themselves in their host, but do attach only by their mouth parts.
While most residents see ticks in spring, they can be found in the state year round. Ticks overwinter in the leaf duff beneath the snow. Here they are quite well insulated from the harsh winter conditions. Even in January, Liesch said, ticks can be encountered. If temperatures are above freezing and there is a lack of snow, ticks can and do emerge.
There are 20 tick species in Wisconsin and three that are of main concern to humans. Those are the American Dog Tick (wood tick), the Lone Star Tick and the deer tick. Lone star ticks, he said, are fairly rare in Wisconsin and tend to be a southern tick. It is unclear how these ticks make their way this far north, but one hypothesis is they hitch a ride on migrating birds.
The tick of main concern, of course, is the deer tick. These ticks are very minute, making them hard to spot. They can carry Lyme disease, which is a major health concern for humans. Liesch said 20 percent of juvenile deer ticks and 40 percent of adult deer ticks carry Lyme disease. In some areas of the state, such as the western portion near Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, that percentage can be as high as 60 percent.
Lyme disease is getting more attention as more is learned about it. More people, as well as medical professionals, have Lyme disease at the top of their minds when they encounter the symptoms. Those symptoms can include aches, joint pain and fever. In approximately 75 percent of cases, the telltale "bull's-eye rash" is also present. In those cases where that rash is not present, he said, diagnosis is not as quick or easy. Liesch said many people, especially as they age, experience aches and joint pain and may not equate that to a tick bite.
The good news, if there is any, about Lyme disease, is that it takes approximately 36 hours or more for an attached tick to transmit the disease. This makes checking for ticks after outdoor adventures very important.
Avoiding bites
Liesch listed several things people can do to reduce their chances of getting bit by a tick. First, clothing choices can be important when going outside. Long sleeves and long pants that are tucked into boots can help a person spot a tick before it gets a chance to attach itself. Light-colored clothing can help in this respect also.
Repellents are a good idea, he said, but people should be sure to follow the manufacturer directions. Some repellents are made to be in contact with skin while others are meant to be applied to clothing. He also said that while homemade repellents are becoming more popular, they are not recommended. Many have no effect at all while others wear off almost as soon as they are applied. The best advice is to purchase an EPA-registered repellent. Repellents such as DEET, Picaridin, IR3535 and Lemon Eucalyptus oil are most common. Users should be sure to know how long the protection from any repellent will last and when to reapply.
Another repellent, Permethrin, is a clothing treatment that does a very good job repelling ticks. If ticks come into contact with it for too long, it will kill them. There are some types of clothing, he said, that come with Permethrin woven into the fabric. These were originally developed for military use, but are popular with hunters and other outdoorsmen as well. Regular tick checks after outdoor activity, as well as bathing or showering, accompanied by washing all clothing worn outdoors, is a main line of defense for protection against ticks.
Liesch said not to forget companion animals when it comes to ticks. Dogs and cats can both be susceptible to tick bites. For dogs, there is a Lyme vaccination available, and for both cats and dogs repellents are available. Pet owners should be sure to consult their veterinarian when choosing the correct tick repellent.
Landscape management, too, can help control ticks and reduce interactions with them. Ticks need a moist environment and will not do well in drier, open areas. For instance, they will not do well in turf grass of a common lawn. They will tend to collect around the edges of the lawn in thicker vegetation.
Invasive vegetation, Liesch said, should be eliminated especially. Invasive terrestrial species such as honeysuckle thickets and Japenese barberry tend to provide thick habitat for smaller mammals, which are important to the tick life cycle. While these invasive species are detrimental to the environment in many ways, they can also contribute to increased tick activity, he said.
For many, limiting animal habitat is not part of their landscape management plan. In fact, many people look to enhance the number of wildlife in and around their yard. However, Liesch warns, this can increase tick activity as well. Reducing rodent habitat and excluding or discouraging deer, such as by fencing in a garden, can help to reduce ticks on a property as well. This can require a delicate balance for some. For others, with a stronger aversion to ticks, the decision may be more cut and dried.
There are also tick treatments available for landscapes and yards. These are broad spectrum lawn and landscape insecticides. They are generally applied in an 8-10 foot swath at the edge of a lawn near a wooded area. There are many companies that apply these insecticides and usually one treatment in the spring is recommended.
All of the tick education webinars can be found on the UW-Extension Ashland County website by searching "tick education Ashland County." More information on tick bites and prevention can also be found on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website by searching keywords "tick-borne diseases."
Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.