I don’t know if it’s because of our mild winter we had, but ticks showed up early this year. The most known species of ticks in the Northwoods are WOOD TICKS and DEER TICKS. WOOD TICKS or sometimes call American dog tick can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but the good news (if there is any) is these ticks are considered exceedingly rare in Wisconsin. Contrary to what some believe, ticks DO NOT fly, jump or drop from above onto their victims, but wait for a person or animal to brush against grass or whatever they are attached to and crawl on to their victim. I would think most people know that a ticks life source is blood, and they can be prevalent from April to September, but not too many are aware that peak season for ticks is October and even into November. This is totally true, because ticks can survive a hard freeze and are most active after the first frost. Ticks only suck blood 3 times in their life. 1 to molt from larva to nymph, 2 nymphs to adult and 3 adults to lay eggs. The deer tick also known as the BLACK LEGGED TICK is the one that carry LYME DISEASE and I do not know how many studies there have been on ticks, but one stated, only 20% of deer ticks carry Lyme disease.

Early symptoms of Lyme disease are a circular (DOES NOT APPEAR IN ALL CASES) rash, stiff neck, muscle or joint pain, fever and headaches. Then heart abnormalities, joint swelling, meningitis (brain swelling) and facial muscles weakness in the later stages. Lyme disease is treatable if DETECTED EARLY with antibiotics, but can have long term effects to joints, heart and nervous system if NOT found or treated early. Supposedly, (another study) ticks can crawl around on you or an animal for up to 4 hours before feeding on blood, so check yourself and pets after walking in the woods or high grass. When checking for ticks, (BEST IN THE SHOWER) look EVERYWHERE and feel your head for small bumps that could be a tick.

The Mayo Clinic revealed, there is a new strain of Lyme disease that DOES NOT match traditional Lyme disease and it’s only been found in the Midwest. Isn’t that great news? The symptoms of this new strain are similar, but also causes nausea, vomiting and a larger more spread-out rash. If having wood ticks and deer ticks that can spread Lyme disease wasn’t enough, a LONE STAR TICK has been detected in 32 Wisconsin counties (EVEN VILAS COUNTY) since 2006. These ticks have a white spot on their back, are more aggressive than deer ticks and like other ticks, need blood to survive. The biggest difference between the deer tick and lone star tick is the lone star tick carries ALPHA-GAL-SYDROME that does something to our immune system that can cause us to have an allergic reaction to red meat. If bitten by a lone star tick, the area can still develop a circular rash with similar symptoms, but you can also get swelling to your lips, face, tongue, throat, abdominal pain, nausea and /or vomiting a few hours after eating beef or pork. If there is one good thing about this lone star tick (IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT GOOD) is, they do not carry Lyme disease, but I love red meat.

This is easy to write, and living in the Northwoods almost impossible, but the best way to prevent ticks is to keep away from wooded, high grass or any vegetation areas and/or wear light color long pants, tuck your light color shirt in and apply repellent that has at least 20 % of DEET. Then before you go into your house/cottage, check for dark spots on your light color cloths. There is a product called PERMETHRIN that can be applied to your cloths but (and I can’t stress this enough) NEVER put this on your skin. If you do find a tick on yourself or pet, remove it by grasping it as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out with tweezers DO NOT, TWIST OR TRY TO JERK the tick off, then clean the area with rubbing alcohol and place the tick into a plastic bag and throw it in the garbage. I have heard nail polish remover will kill a tick and cause it to detach but have never tried this method and don’t know if I will. Also, I’ve heard placing cloths in the dryer on high will kill a tick. Again, I don’t know if that really works, but if you have done these things, please let us know.