Tag: tick control

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.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast

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

Also read: Are ticks getting smaller?

 

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.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast

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!