Ticks are on the move; learn how to avoid them

Published: April 7, 2010

CLEMSON — To a tick, you have only one purpose in life: to be its blood meal. Spring begins a tick's search for you or your dog — or a hog or a frog. It's not very choosy when it comes to food. Clemson University insect experts have advice for avoiding becoming the main course for a tick.

From now until fall's hard frosts, Eric Benson, a professor and extension entomologist, hears from people wondering if a tick that will cause illness has bitten them. Some ticks can transmit several diseases, such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tick paralysis and others, but most tick bites do not result in illness.

“Concern about tick-borne diseases, like Lyme disease, is the primary reason people send ticks to Clemson for identification," said Benson. “While we can’t screen ticks for diseases, we can identify the species and the condition of the specimen to determine if it has had a blood meal. This can provide an individual or their doctor a little more insight as to the probably of a disease being transmitted from the tick in question.”

Ticks are external parasites that need a blood meal to survive and reproduce. They can feed on humans and other mammals, reptiles, birds or even frogs. While there are about 80 different kinds of ticks in the United States, most don't bother humans or their pets.

Wood ticks live up to their name and usually are found in woodland areas. Recently disturbed land, cleared for homes or timber harvest, often is prime tick habitat. Wood ticks can crawl around for hours before attaching themselves to a host, easily brought home on pets or clothing. Wood ticks do not establish populations indoors, but the same cannot be said for the brown dog tick, one of the few ticks that will infest a structure.

The brown dog tick prefers to feed on dogs, but will feed on other hosts, including humans. Early stages of the tick are normally found in the long hair along the back of a dog. The adult stage is found in the ear or between the toes. They can be picked up in such common places as infested homes, kennels and veterinarians’ offices — anywhere an infested dog spends time. When an infestation occurs indoors, ticks will be found in cracks, crevices, behind baseboards and in other protected places close to the floor. They don't get up too high, staying at dog height or lower. Infestations can be unsettling. Female brown ticks can lay as many as 5,000 eggs.

Benson suggests that South Carolinians can learn how to avoid and deal with ticks from a fact sheet that can be downloaded from http://bugs.clemson.edu/eiis/pdfs/mv5.pdf.

Here are a few tips to avoid or get rid of ticks:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and hats in tick-infested areas. To prevent ticks from getting under pants, tuck cuffs into the socks or shoes. Tuck long hair under a hat. Apply tick repellant to the outside of clothes, especially the pants. Ticks are easier to see on light-colored clothes.
• Visually inspect your clothes and body twice a day when in tick-infested areas. The larvae and nymphs of ticks are quite small and can be easily mistaken for freckles or dirt. Ticks like to feed on the back of the head at the base of the skull. It is a good idea to have another person check for ticks in places you cannot readily see. All clothing should be washed in warm water and detergent. Check pets, too, bathing them with flea and tick soap if needed.
• General chemical treatments for ticks are not recommended because they often are not very effective. Removal of tick habitats is more helpful. Around the house, trim shrubs along the paths near your home; mow the grass; and remove weeds, brush and leaf litter that's close to your house.
• Indoor chemical control of ticks usually is not recommended except for brown dog ticks. Applications should be limited to crack and crevice treatments and where the animal spends the most time, especially bedding or sleeping areas. Many of the same spray or dust products used for cockroaches can control brown dog ticks — check the label and follow instructions. A severe infestation may require professional treatment.
• If a tick bites, carefully remove it by grasping it with a pair of tweezers at the point closest to the skin. Pull it out slowly and steadily. After the tick is removed, disinfect the bite area. Make sure not to crush the tick as you remove it because if it is infected, it could introduce the disease into the bite. Save the tick by placing it in a small container with rubbing alcohol, preserving it for identification. However, keep in mind that to test the tick for disease, it must be alive. Record the bite date on a calendar in case symptoms appear.

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