Beach safety for the whole family, including tick protection

Sadly, we see social media posts like this one, recirculating from last year, which alert us of the potential dangers of a seemingly innocent day of fun at the beach with our children and pets. The beach can be a haven – a place of fun, sunshine, and respite…but we must be vigilant in following important safety tips, including those that protect us from tick bites.

Tick protection is essential – protect your kids and pets from ticks at the beach

*Tick protection is essential, even on the beach!*

It’s easy to assume that we won’t encounter ticks at the beach, as there might not be a lot of grass or wooded areas, but that assumption is incorrect. Ticks do live at the beach, carried there by wildlife, and waiting to take their blood meal from an unsuspecting victim.

Protect yourself, your children, and your pets from ticks at the beach by following these tips:

Do not sit among dunes or grassy areas on the beach
Use permethrin on your clothes, DEET on exposed skin
Keep long hair pulled back
Use tick prevention on your pets
Check towels, clothing, yourselves, your children, and your pets from head to toe when you are ready to leave – repeat when you arrive home
Baths and showers for everyone when you get home, including your pet

What do you do if you find a tick? — ***Here’s what to do if you find a tick !***

Beach safety tips for your dog

Pets can have a great day visiting the beach with us, but there are additional dangers that we might face when bringing Fido on a beach day. I want you to be aware that fleas and ticks are not the only hidden dangers on the beach, as the Facebook post above illustrates.

Have a happy and safe day of fun by following these tips:

Bring lots of fresh water, and a big bowl that won’t turn over
Be mindful of not allowing your dog to ingest saltwater during play (i.e. fetching the ball in the water)
Consider a life vest if your dog likes to go into the water
Bring a cooling mat or cooling vest for your dog, especially if they are a short-nosed (Brachycephalic )
Give your dog a thorough check for fleas and ticks when you are ready to go home
Bathe and re-check your dog when you arrive home, to rid his skin of itchy saltwater residue and irritating sand

*Give your dog a bath after the beach – even if he doesn’t enjoy it!*

Did you know that your dog can suffer paralysis from a tick bite?

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

As always, I am committed to spreading awareness about tick protection, and the prevention of tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, in Central Mass and beyond. I hope that you and your family have a fun, safe, and tick-free summer this year with professional tick control around your home and yard!

Ticks are much like Game of Thrones’ Night King!

Ticks are no good for ANYONE. They prey on our families, our pets, and even our livestock. Will you be stuck trying to remove a tick from yourself or a loved one this year, and hope that said tick has not left devastation behind?

As we inch towards the series finale of Game of Thrones, I started thinking about how I might compare Central Mass ticks to the once-feared, mysterious Night King. Here are some comparisons between the two!

Central Mass ticks and the Night King are u-g-l-y, and they ain’t got no alibi!

Most obvious of all, the Night King is hideous and scary looking. The same can be said of ticks! Not only are ticks gross on the outside, but they have a mouthful of hooks that allow them to DIG IN to your flesh, and borrow!

Your sacrifice is required for their reproduction, just like the Night King built his army of Wights!

Female ticks take a few blood meals during their life cycle. They require their last blood meal in order to reproduce, and create more blood-sucking, disease spreading ticks! In search of their blood meal, they will latch on to your flesh, sink their hooks in you, and can transfer very harmful diseases, like Lyme disease.

Tick bites are your blood sacrifice!
Your sacrifice could be Lyme disease!

Central Mass ticks can survive the winter, just like the Night King!

Contrary to popular belief, ticks do not die in winter. Reputable Central Massachusetts tick prevention professionals have solutions, such as tick tubes, which will continue to eliminate ticks “out of season” and control the tick population in your yard during the next spring and summer!

Do ticks survive winter? — Like the Night King, Central Mass ticks easily survive winter!

Don’t say, “Dracarys!” Fire will not help you remove a tick – just like dragonfire won’t kill the Night King!

You do NOT want to burn ticks to get them out of your skin. Never put yourself, your loved one, or your pet in harm’s way by trying to burn a tick to remove it. This cannot end well! How should your remove a tick?

Steel vanquished the Night King, and will help you vanquish your tick!

Tweezer tick removal — Proper tick removal requires tweezers.

Valyrian steel not required! For that matter, please not your most effective weapon will not be a dagger. All you need is a nice pair of tweezers to remove and dispose of your tick.

My goal is always to inform you about the dangers of ticks in Central Mass. The best way to control them, and to keep your family safe, is to prevent them in the first place. As they say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Westford MA Tick Control is a Job for the Professionals

Ticks are gross. Not just gross — these ugly bugs can be very dangerous, as they can carry multiple serious diseases, some being potentially fatal.

Westford tick control — *Ticks are gross and dangerous to your Westford MA family.*

Diseases like Babesiosis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and more. Nobody wants to see themselves or their loved ones deal with a tick-borne illness, and nobody wants to deal with ticks. Well, almost nobody. Consider a tick control specialist for your Westford home and family.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease in Massachusetts and all over the Eastern U.S. has reached unprecedented levels in recent years. Middlesex County actually had 779 reported Lyme disease cases in 2016 (the most in the state), an unfortunate distinction nobody wants to brag about. The Town of Westford has some basic information on ticks and what to do if one of them bites you, but wouldn’t you rather avoid them all together?

That’s when you call in the pros.

It just so happens that the same barrier spray treatment used for professional mosquito control also eliminates adult and ticks and fleas. This tick control treatment is wicked effective — it can eliminate up to 95% of ticks on contact. But there is a two-pronged approach that takes tick control to a whole new level, because tick-borne illnesses are no joke and we need to get rid of ticks before they come anywhere near our families.

The Process: How Westford MA Tick Control Works

The first step in a thorough Westford MA tick protection strategy entails spraying a special micro-encapsulated tick control formula around the perimeter of your yard, making sure to get all the shrubbery, foliage (not flowers, though), and surfaces around and underneath patios and decks. But for the ticks, more focus is given than usual around the tall grassy areas, because that’s where ticks usually hang out — breeding, resting, and well, waiting for their next blood meal.

*Time-released tick barrier spray will protect your family for about three weeks.*

A barrier treatment formula is time released, meaning that after mosquitoes and ticks are eliminated on contact, it will keep on doing its job for up to three weeks after it’s disbursed. Because of this, it has the added benefit of preventing tick eggs from hatching and thus stops the next generation of blood-sucking little monsters. I suggest re-treating your property everything three weeks for season-long protection.

Next is the tick control “bonus round”

Lyme Disease and other tick-borne diseases are usually caused by bacteria transmitted by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), but there are other ticks and diseases we need to worry about these days as well. While it’s true that not all ticks are carriers of these illnesses, the only way to tell if a tick is a carrier of anything scary is after we’re bitten. (If you do get bitten, please save your tick after safely removing it and send it to UMass Amherst’s tick testing service, especially if you get sick.) Ticks become infected when they feed on mice and other small animals that are infected. By going “straight to the source” and implementing tick tubes, we’re stopping the cycle of disease before it even starts.

*Take your Westford tick protection to the next level with tick tubes!*

Tick tubes are small tubes made of biodegradable material that are filled with cotton treated with a solution that is fatal to ticks. Mice find these and carry some of the cotton underground to build their nests. When a tick bites one of these mice, they’re eliminated shortly after. Tick tubes are an extremely effective proactive measure to take. It can reduce the ticks in your yard by up to 90% because it destroys the tick population before they’re able to multiply.

Prefer an Organic Tick Treatment Approach?

*All-natural Westford MA tick control is available.*

While professional tick control products are EPA-registered, there are also all-natural tick treatment solutions for those of us who prefer to stay as eco-conscious as possible. This barrier spray solution was developed based on essential oils, focuses more on repelling pests than eliminating them. It’s not quite as effective as a vtraditional mosquito and tick control treatment, but it’s still pretty powerful — most customers notice a reduction in yard pests between 65-80%. Also a time-released formula, this all-natural approach lasts for up to two weeks before needing reapplication.

Hello, May. Hello, Lyme Disease Awareness Month!

Central Mass Lyme disease prevention is critical, and that is not figurative language. Literally critical – urgent – dire!

May is a beautiful time of year in Central Mass, and with the warm weather folks begin to spend more time outdoors with their families. We begin to work in the yard, host cook-outs, and spend mild evenings relaxing on our back patios. Many across the U.S. get moving for the cause of Lyme disease. 5K runs in the name of Lyme? Yes, it’s that important! Why? See the trailer below for the critically acclaimed documentary, Under Our Skin!

See more about Under Our Skin.

In honor of Lyme Disease Awareness Month, I would like to cover some important aspects of Lyme.

Lyme Disease Symptoms

An estimated 30% to 80% of Lyme patients will develop a rash related to the disease. The bullseye rash is most commonly associated, but did you know that other rashes can be associated with Lyme? Did you know that some patients don’t develop a rash at all? In a CDC report, more than 40% of Lyme Carditis patients did not have Lyme related rash. Early symptoms include: fever, chills, nausea, sweating, and joint pain.

Read about 3 steps to determine your Lyme disease risk after you have been bitten by a tick.

Children and Lyme

*Central Mass tick protection is critical for your child*

Detecting Lyme disease in your child might be difficult, as symptoms can present behaviorally, without a prevalence of sickness symptoms. Children with Lyme can have insomnia, difficulty communicating thoughts, fatigue, short attention span, and severe mood swings. Because children as susceptible to tick bites, it is essential that you hire a licensed tick control company to spray your yard, your child’s playground. Check your child each day for ticks or tick bites, and if you find evidence of either, follow these tick removal instructions, and be vigilant in watching for symptoms, including those mentioned above.

Pets and Lyme

Your pets are also extremely susceptible to ticks and tick bites. They too, can get Lyme disease. In addition to tick protection for your yard, please check your dogs, cats, and horses for ticks regularly, and watch for symptoms, such as lethargy, and unexplained limping.

Check out this video to learn how to properly check your pet for ticks.

Ticks CANNOT burrow and move under your skin undetected!

Social media is a blessing and a curse. I use social media to spread Central Mass tick awareness each week, and some of my time is spent debunking viral myths. Sometimes, the information that has been passed, seems like outright fearmongering.

You have probably seen this post, or similar posts circulating on Facebook over the last two years, claiming that ticks can burrow under your skin and move around undetected. I expect that this fallacy will begin making its rounds again soon, if it hasn’t already. Do ticks burrow? Yes. Do they completely move underneath the layers of your skin, crawl around, and spread illness? NO!

Where does tick misinformation come from?

Though the origins of the story are unknown to me, I can only assume that it came from reports surrounding the “seed tick” (slang for a tick in the larval stage of life) a couple of years ago. The CDC posted this photo on their social media, warning of the dangers of nymph ticks, the most likely to spread disease.

ticks can be virtually un-detectable — *Can you see five ticks on this poppy seed muffin?*

The small size of the nymph is alarming, as one tick is about the size of a poppy seed, making them difficult to detect or identify. Nymph ticks are in the second stage of their lives, having taken their first blood meal from animals, such as white-footed mice, often carriers of Lyme Disease, in their larvae stage. Nymph ticks are dangerous – VERY dangerous, often diseased, and ready to make your family or family pet their next blood meal, at which time they can transmit diseases.

Watch this tick burrow into human skin, aided by a “mouth full of hooks!”

Leominster tick protection is essential to your family’s health!

protect your family from ticks — Leominster tick protection is important for your whole family.

With the dangers of an increased tick population in Central Mass, tick control is not an option, but a necessity. I urge you to be proactive in the fight against the spread of tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tularemia, and even tick paralysis in dogs. Illnesses contracted from ticks are dangerous in a few ways. Some have terrifying symptoms, such as temporary blindness. Lyme Disease can be misdiagnosed for other diseases, like dementia, and produce lifelong ailments. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is difficult to diagnose, and if not treated properly and early, it can be deadly.

ticks cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever — *Rash produced by Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever*

If you do find a tick on yourself or a family member, follow the CDC’s recommended tick removal instructions.

Keep your family and guests safe from ticks and the harmful diseases they carry by calling a professional tick control company!

What’s Long and Slithers and Had Ticks All Over?

You might have a difficult time believing the answer to this riddle! Recently, Gold Coast and Brisbane snake catcher encountered a truly unusual snake. When these professional reptile re-locators found this carpet python, he was covered in ticks – 511 blood-suckers, in fact!

Talk about an animal in need of tick protection!

Nike the snake is now in the care of Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation in Queensland, Australia, where he continues to recover. When Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher rescued poor Nike from a pool in Coolangatta, he was nearly unrecognizable and severely anemic, because these ravenous blood-suckers were feasting on him. Usually, snakes will fight off invading ticks and insects, but Nike did not. Once these hungry ticks latched on, they weakened the carpet python past the point of defense.

What does a cup of 511 ticks look like?

Feast your eyes on this! Even though more than 500 ticks were meticulously removed from the snake’s body, more remained intact under his scales, and had to be treated with medication.

ticks all over - 511 ticks — More than 500 ticks feasted on the snake’s blood until he became severely anemic

Days later, this baby koala required a blood transfusion after having 100 ticks removed!

To further illustrate the damage these nasty invaders cause, and the danger they pose to our families – pets – wildlife – livestock!

Ticks eat to live and live to eat! Don’t allow your family to become a “blood meal.”

Ticks must have their blood meal in order to survive each stage of life. In the larvae stage, they often take their first blood meal from Lyme infected hosts, like the white-footed mouse. Nearly the entire population of this mouse is infected with Lyme Disease, which is how ticks become infected. In the next stage of life, ticks are in search of a larger host with a lot of blood and nutrients – which make us humans an ideal feast! During this feeding, ticks actually filter and regurgitate the water content from our blood right back into our bloodstream, introducing the threat of disease. Don’t become a blood meal.

When it comes to tick-borne disease prevention, tick control is the key. Be sure your family is protected this year by calling a tick control professional!

Category: tick protection