Spring and summer arrive like expected gifts, yet wonderful all the same. But there are some things that darken these nice warm times of the year. One of the worst, and not just in my opinion, is the tick. If you are a fan of outdoor activities, or just enjoy a brief daily outing or two with your dog, you have likely experienced the irritating chore of checking for ticks on your person, as well as on your pets, when reaching the welcoming hearth. Big city dwellers probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but then they probably have whole other sets of problems.
Ticks, which only dine on blood, are pretty horrible little parasites. For the most part, they are easy to spot, dark dots on light clothing or something itchy on the skin; however they are sometimes a little tricky to remove completely. The good news is that any tick captured and disposed of in the first 24 hours of attachment is highly unlikely to transmit a dangerous pathogen, if it is in fact a disease carrier. Folks who live in areas considered as at risk for Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted fever are probably pretty familiar with routines involving bug spray before entering the woods and dedicated tick checks when arriving home again.
Isopropyl rubbing alcohol will kill the tick, but you still need to disengage its mouth from the skin wound. A thin tweezers on the tick and a sharp. straight pull from the site usually does the trick. Washing the wound afterward is a good idea, possibly finishing up with an anti-bacterial cleanser or antiseptic solution. If a marked inflammation appears at the site, especially if it shows the bull’s-eye pattern typical of Lyme infections, be sure to contact your doctor right away. Antibiotics are said to deal with Lyme incidences pretty effectively.
At the moment, it is still winter where I live. But soon I will be checking the dogs, trying to decide when it will be time to put on tick collars. Although I’ve never found such pet items to be thoroughly effective, they are certainly better than nothing, if you reside in rural, white-tail deer territory. Ticks love the deer but they’ll settle for my dogs, or even for me (thanks a lot!). Being prepared and vigilant is essential.
Tiny, lurking, blood-sucking bugs are in the woods; but then so are all the wonders of nature, from trees and brooks to songbirds and squirrels. So, no way are my dogs and me staying away, hiding indoors, ticks or not. Of course, I haven’t mentioned some other outdoor pests… Anyone have a soft spot for mosquitoes?