When you are in a place in the outdoors crowded with shrubbery, it is likely you’d be bringing home a few ticks. They like sticking to people and animal fur and draw blood while stuck on the skin. People and pets can be harboring deer ticks and dog ticks and not know until the bite marks become manifest. An exterminator in North Attleboro can help you deal with ticks, which by the way are not insects!
Watch out for the tiny arachnids
Ticks are arachnids like scorpions and spiders. They have no antenna and crawl about with four pairs of tiny legs. They thrive in all climates and can be found in many different parts of the world. Questing ticks use their first set of legs to latch onto the next human or animal that passes by. Ticks do not bite immediately. They would crawl around for a few hours before drawing blood.
Ticks are quite small, and if you see your dog scratching itself like it has lost its mind, there’s probably a few ticks hiding out on its fur. Dog ticks are about half an inch long so you’ll be able to find them if you look carefully.
Caution against Lyme disease
Ticks look for a thin area of skin and puncture it to reach into a blood vessel. A rather infamous vector-borne disease is transmitted to humans in this way. Named after a place in Connecticut where the disease was discovered, Lyme disease can be potentially threatening. The most number of reported cases are from the northeastern and upper midwestern United States.
The bacteria causing the disease are transmitted from the tick to the person it bites. Fortunately, the transmission is not instantaneous. Research reveals there is a 36 to 48-hour window for Lyme disease transmission. If you can remove the tick from your body within this window, then you could be spared the potentially fatal symptoms.
Removing ticks from your body
Why is it necessary to dedicate a paragraph to proper tick removal? For starters, the mouthpiece of the arachnid is attached to your skin. If you yank it off unceremoniously, you’d be causing yourself an injury. Pointy tweezers should allow you to grasp the tick and apply a steady force to remove its grasp on your skin. Ask your local drugstore for a pair of tick tweezers when you’re purchasing camping or hiking supplies. Afterward, you must clean the area with soap and water. If the mouthpiece or the entire head is separate from the body and remains on the skin surface, leave it and wait for it to detach.
You can avoid questing ticks if you walk the trails and keep away from the bushes. If you are hiking in an area known to be populated by ticks, check your skin every four hours and be vigilant and removing them. If you can find a tick repellant that promises ample protection do not hesitate to use it, but be careful when applying the product, and always follow instructions. Use the repellant on your skin and clothes.
