Category: tick education

Why is it so Darn Difficult to Remove a Tick?

Do you know how to remove a tick?Living in Massachusetts, Charlton residents certainly know a thing or two about deer ticks. Tick populations are at epic proportions, making us experts in finding and removing ticks whether we like it or not.

As we all know, deer ticks can’t simply be brushed off; they have to be removed with great and careful effort. Just what is it about ticks that make them hang on so tight?

See: How to remove a tick

Ticks are Built to Hang On – How can we remove a tick?

Why is it so hard to remove a tick?While it may seem just like any other insect bite, a tick bite is a multi-step process. Telescoping barbed mouth parts are why a tick is so difficult to remove. Reliant on its ability to latch on to a host for a several day’s long blood meal, ticks depend on the proper function of this barbed appendage. If they were easy to remove it would make it impossible for them to get a full meal as a change of clothes would cause them to fall. The anatomy of a tick’s mouthparts is where a great deal of the magic happens that allows them to feed successfully for days on their host. The Scientific American recently published a fantastic story explaining exactly how these very specific mouthparts function.

Charlton Ticks Bite

By studying ticks under a microscope during the process of embedding into a mouse ear, scientists have been able to learn a great deal about their successful feedings. Think about this microscopic process next time you get a tick bite:

  1. Ticks burrow into their host’s skin with “two telescoping, barbed structures called chelicerae.”
  2. Next, they spread their chelicerae apart like two arms doing the breast stroke.
  3. When they spread the chelicerae a “spikey, swordlike appendage” called the hypostome, sinks into the host.
  4. The hypostome forms a tube for the process of withdrawing blood from the host.

With anatomy made specifically for their long-term blood meal habits, a tick bite is an efficient feeding process. While the little blood they take doesn’t seem to do us so much harm, the bacteria and viruses ticks can spread during the process is something to cause concern. With Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever being spread so easily, avoiding ticks and tick bites is the best option for staying healthy.

Charlton tick control is essential.

I am committed to providing you the best most up-to-date information on the threat of tick-borne diseases in Tewksbury. Stay tuned for the latest on ticks in the area. Be sure to follow the 7 C’s of tick control to make certain your yard is not inadvertently attracting ticks.

Also read: Where do ticks live?

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Ticks in Massachusetts will do anything but jump to get their next blood meal

can-tick-jump-on-my-head-central-massTicks in Massachusetts, such as deer ticks are fascinatingly smart about how they find their next food source.  They don’t crawl, jump, or fly for their survival.  They don’t have to!

They don’t crawl into your Central Mass home, sneak into your bed and wait for you at night. They don’t climb above your swing set and jump on your children’s heads as they swing. And they don’t jump from trees or vegetation if you walk near them. Ticks in Massachusetts waste no energy, but lay in wait for the perfect host to just brush on by them.

What is questing?

Questing is what a tick does when it needs a new host for its next blood meal. The deer tick will climb to the very tip of a blade of grass, a leaf of a shrub or a plant stem. Hanging on with their third and fourth pairs of legs, the tick will stretch out its first pair waiting to grab onto any host that brushes by. When this happens they use those front legs to grab ahold. Once there, they quickly climb upwards to find a dark, moist hidden place to latch on for a blood meal.

How high do deer ticks quest?

ticks in MassachusettsIn normal conditions a deer tick will climb vegetation that is the perfect height to grab a hold of the host they are after. For instance, when a tick is in the larva stage they prefer small rodents and will choose to quest in the low vegetation and underbrush where those critters have left evidence of past travels. Nymph (teenage) and adult ticks will find taller vegetation, up to knee height so that they can grab a hold of bigger mammals and human hosts who brush by. Ticks do not normally climb higher than knee height, nor do they jump down on your head from a tree branch. The reason you find a tick on your head or neck is either 1.) you were bent down, sitting or lying in a place where they were able to climb on or 2.) (most likely) they latched on at knee level or lower and quickly climbed upward.

Unpredictable tick infestation behavior

While ticks normally do prefer cool shady places that are low to the ground for their questing, there are some definite variations in their behavior. When ticks get to the infestation levels they are currently at in Central Massachusetts some abnormal questing behavior can be observed. I’ve seen ticks on hot black top in the blazing sun, I’ve seen them climbing up the side of a house and will continue to see these abnormalities as long as the tick population remains at this high infestation level.

The good news is ticks won’t live long out in the sun where the humidity is low. The bad news is they might find their way to you in unpredictable new ways. Finding you means biting you, and that could result in Lyme Disease. Eliminating ticks on your property to lower your exposure is the best way to protect your family and pets from dangerous tick-borne disease, such as Lyme disease.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Central Mass tick control enthusiast

With a traditional tick control barrier spray ticks and mosquitoes are eliminated on contact. With the addition of tick tubes the tick life cycle is interrupted by eliminating tick nymphs before they become adults looking for a deer or human host.

Also read: Do ticks borrow completely under your skin?