‘I’d never been bitten by a tick before’: why the little blood-sucking pest is getting us into a panic
‘I’d never been bitten by a tick before’: why the little blood-sucking pest is getting us into a panic
They’re hard to spot, they’re hungry and they’re spreading disease from the Highlands to urban parks: a special report on the increasing threat posed by ticks
Last summer I took my family on a walk through the woodlands that surround the hamlet of Ebernoe, in Sussex. My children clambered on fallen trees, my partner and I hunted for mushrooms, and all the while we were being hunted by creatures more ancient than the last dinosaurs – and so hungry they would have fed on us for days.
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Lyme disease can ruin your life. Whatever eats ticks is my friend because I hate ticks.
Oppossums eat ticks. Hopefully some other animals have gotten in on that party too
They eat ticks when they have no other choice. That study that sparked the "opossums will eradicate ticks" legend gave the opossums only ticks to eat.
Chickens, on the other hand, will destroy any pest population they can get to.
I knew they ate more than just ticks, but this good info to know!
I think some chickens do also eat ticks
Anecdotally, after getting chickens and with a family of opossums in the woods out back, I haven't seen a tick on my boots or my dogs in many months.
I should get me some chickens…and opossums….and woods.
This is a common mistake. It's pronounced "oppossum".
Lyme disease is awful, but preventable. I lived in tick country for much of my life, and went outdoors, camping, and hiking a lot, without a single tick incident. Ticks like long grasses and short brush, the drier the better. They hang out on the flora until a deer or other victim walks through and they hitch a ride (and get a meal). If preparing for an outing in tick country, there's a number of simple things you can do to prevent being bitten.
- Wear shoes (no sandals and nothing open toed), long pants (lightweight hiking pants can be easily purchased), and wear long socks pulled over the bottom hem of your pants. As I told my girl Scout unit, they're going for a hike, not a fashion show.
- Learn how to do a tick check, and how to properly remove a tick.
- If you do find a tick on yourself or someone else, KEEP THE TICK. Put it in a bag or container and take it to the hospital with you. Go to a hospital as soon as possible- the tick can be tested for Lyme disease, and you can get preventative treatment.
And obviously, do not go rolling around/laying in tick infested grasses.
How do I know I'm in tick country?
Government agencies often track this information. Here's the one for Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/lyme-disease/surveillance-lyme-disease.html
(Don't know if you're in Canada, so I'm not sure how useful the link is.)