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| Dr. Ronald G. Biese |
The book of
Matthew in the New Testament (10:27) says “What I whisper in your ear shout
from the housetops for all to hear”. That
is good advice for knowledge that simply needs to be heard and distributed to
the masses. There are so many myths
about ticks that I would love to shout from the rooftops for all to hear to
dispel these myths. The two main ticks
we see in Wisconsin are wood ticks (Demacentor variabilis) and deer ticks
(Ixodes scapularis). What is fact and
what is fiction about these dreaded beasts?
It is common
knowledge that deer ticks carry diseases.
That is correct. Most people know
that they carry Lyme disease. That is
correct. Deer ticks are very small. Right again.
That is about the only facts all people understand.
A common
myth is that deer ticks are always small even when engorged. What many people don’t know is an engorged
deer tick can be up to ½ inch long. This
is sizeable and to an untrained eye can look like an engorged wood tick. Shout this information from the
rooftops. A large engorged tick DOES NOT
mean a wood tick. It could be, but it
should be identified by an expert (your veterinarian should know).
Another myth
is that ticks are gone by fall. That is
dead wrong! No pun intended. Deer ticks are always available to prey on
unsuspecting mammals ANY time the temperature is near or above 32 degrees. They do not hibernate, nor do they look at a
calendar. I have seen ticks in my
practice on dogs every month of the year.
They are not gone after the first frost!
DON’T stop using flea/tick preventives until there is snow that does not
leave the ground. In fact, it is a good
idea to use the product all year-round, as some winters are mild enough with
thawing occurring any time. In addition,
you will get flea protection which can occur any time of year from other
animals.
The most popular
myth is a tick burrows its entire head under the skin. This is simply not true. They bite with their mouth parts that sink
into the skin. The head can’t go below
the skin!
Removing a
tick couldn’t be any easier. People make
a huge deal out of this and have all kinds of “tricks” to get them out. Did you ever hear of burning them out; using
Vaseline to back them out; using diesel fuel to get them out? DO NOT EMPLOY ANY OF THESE METHODS. Again, warm up those lungs and shout this to
your neighbors and friends. The easiest
and best way to remove them once they are embedded is to grab them as close to
the skin as possible with a pointy tweezers and SLOWLY pull.
They will likely release once there is enough pressure applied. Do not worry if some of the mouth parts are
left behind. They will not cause a local
infection and the body will kick it out within a few days to a week. I have had several clients trying to “dig out
the head” with needles and cause more harm than good. Be much more afraid of what these little
buggers transmit into the body!!
Lyme disease
is the only disease that ticks transmit.
This is very wrong! There are
several known diseases that they transmit to our pets and us, and likely many
more that we don’t know about. To name a
few, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis,
Tularemia, and several others.
Ticks are
creepy in many ways. My wish is to
educate as many people about the above myths and dispel as many as possible so
that our lovely pets are safer from their wicked ways. So, I hope you “shout” to as many people as
you can about the things you learned about ticks. By the way, you don’t have to do it from
your rooftop. That is dangerous!
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