The Telltale Tickle of Ticks Part II: An Embedded Feast & The Famine of Extraction

 You spent the afternoon wandering around our beautiful B.C. hillsides, enjoying views of deer grazing in the grass a few meters away, eagles soaring in the sky above you, and birds twittering away in the trees. The sun was shining, which felt so good after the past few winter months of hibernating.

You weren't the only creature to have emerged with the warmer temperatures and sunshine.

You are now being feasted on...

No, this isn't one of those booktok novels, but that description of your hike might remind you of the habitat description in The Tell-tale Tickle of Ticks Part I: Introducing the Tick where I introduced the tick and it's lifecycle, habitat and dining habits. (Yes, that is your cue to go back and read it, if you haven't already.)

As a veterinary technician, I have seen these critters in all their life stages, on a variety of pets, myself, my family and friends! You hear the phrase "Tick Season" as the spring and summer bring warmer temperatures, and more activities move outside to the great outdoors. As the season begins, I get to eagerly share all the creepy crawly facts about ticks which I've accumulated since becoming a vet tech over 20 years ago!

Every year, I inevitably receive the same questions:

• How did a tick end up on me?

• Where might I discover a tick on my body?

• How deep will a tick burrow into my skin?

• How do I remove it?

• and other questions that I'm sure you also have!

A Tick's Quest: Find a host

I know I'm not the only one to play video games where you develop your avatar's stats with amour, weapons and spells. Ticks have similarly adapted their biology to suit their quest to find a host!

Ticks don't have cape of invisibility, but the speckled markings on the Dermacentor sp. dorsal shield make great camouflage. The Ixodes sp. are like ninjas with their black legs and dark brown/red bodies. Their flat, small bodies can make them hard to find amidst grasses and bushes, or your hair and clothing.

Ticks don't have the ability to jump, and no wings to fly! To be able to grasp you, they have 8 nimble, long legs, ending with a claw. This enables them to perch on skinny grasses, twigs or branches. Their highly developed senses can detect changes in carbon dioxide, indicating that a host is nearby. This is how they can tell when a potential dinner host is nearby! The tick will then wave their legs and quest for their host, grasping onto them as they pass by!

They are also able to numb their dinner area before using their sharp chelicerae to cut the skin and allow the hypostome to be inserted like a straw! This technique might remind you of mosquitos! Ticks also have the ability to secrete cementum to anchor themselves to the skin so they don't get easily brushed off. This cementum is the reason the myth of ticks burying their head in your skin exists! It is a deceiving little trick, but very effective at ensuring they get to finish their meal in peace!

While we may need to wear stretchy pants to enjoy a good meal, the female tick's body has evolved to stretch immensely when they engorge themselves! Unlike the male tick, whose protective dorsal plate covers their entire body, the females dorsal plate is almost 1/3 the size, allowing them to stretch and expand their body during a meal! This allows them to reproduce and lay 1000 to 8000 eggs, enabling their lifecycle to continue.

An Embedded Feast

So how do you determine where these dreaded guests have decided to dine?

Once the tick has grasped onto clothing, fur or hair, it begins its hunt for the ideal feast location:

• Someplace warm, as this means it's protected from the elements and not easily seen.

• Thin skin, with plenty of blood vessels.

• Hair amidst their meal is not a repulsive, they'll crawl around and over it!

On humans and animals, these criteria are ideally met behind the ears, in the armpits, and groin. Although, if hungry enough, a tick will choose to eat at any skin buffet anywhere on the body!

This means that you need to thoroughly check yourself, your pets and your family members or friends (with permission of course!)

• Run your fingers or a comb through hair.

• Check all your clothing as you remove it - ticks could still be meandering across your hoodie, and you don't want to have them take a detour across your floor or bedding!

• Take a shower and check every part of your body - yes, you might need to have someone you trust help check you for ticks!

The Famine of Extraction

What do you do when you find that embedded guest feasting?

First, let's be courteous, it's still a living creature. Also, remember that it's just their mouth parts embedded - not their entire head. Don't poke or prod excessively at them. There is no need to light them on fire, or smother them in petroleum jelly or essential oils, even though these methods work. This will only aggravate them, encouraging them to spit their stomach contents back into you. Your immune system does not want to clean up that mess! We'll go over the bacteria and viruses that can be transmitted by ticks in Part 3: Tick Born Disease & Bite Prevention.

There are proper ways to escort them from the premises:

Tweezers

1. Carefully take your tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.

2. Gently and firmly lift the tick upwards, until the tick releases.

3. Clean the area well, and monitor it for infection.

4. Put the tick in a sealed bag and mark the date if you are concerned about disease transmission.

If you don't have tweezers handy, you can also use your fingers in the same pincer method.

Tick Hook

These nifty tools make it nice and easy to quickly remove your uninvited embedded dinner guest.

1. Slide the tick hook along the skin, anchoring the tick's head/mouth between the claws of the hook.

2. Gently lift upwards and twist, until the tick releases.

3. Clean the area well, and monitor it for infection.

4. Place in a sealed bag and mark the date.

There are many different types of tools that are marketed for tick removal. The important thing when deciding what to use is that you are comfortable using that tool to completely remove the tick! Practice if you can. No, this doesn't have to be on a real tick. A sponge with some pins with larger, bead sized heads will be perfect! Then you can progress to practicing sliding the hook across your skin. It's also great to practice restraining your pet and sliding the hook along their skin to make the real tick removal go smoother!

Report Tick Information

With the evolving spread of tick species and their diseases, it is a good idea to seal your tick in a container, and mark down the date & location where you removed the tick from. This will give you a reference if you start to feel any symptoms of tick borne disease. Crawl on over to Tell-tale Tick of Ticks Part III: Tick Borne Disease (Coming soon) for more details!

You can also help researchers by submitting your tick information to sites like Etick so that tick movements can be tracked. The E-tick site is also available as an app and has so much great information on it!

I also refer to the TickTalkCanada site for their tick activity map tick geography map! If you want to challenge what you've learned so far, take their Tick Quiz and celebrate what you've learned so far!

There's still so much more to learn! Tick diseases are spreading, and preventing tick bites will be key to keeping the toes and tails in your family safe!

You can choose your next learning adventure here:

Tell-tale Tick of Ticks Part I: Introducing the Tick

Tell-tale Tick of Ticks Part III: Tick Borne Disease (Coming soon)

Tell-tale TIckle of Ticks Part VI: Tick Bite Prevention (Coming soon)

Tick Identification

Did you know it is possible for you to identify the tick species and their gender?

Why does this matter?

Well, different species and life stages of ticks can spread different diseases, and some of these diseases are transmissible to humans. That means there are some great research sites dedicated to tracking and identifying ticks! Some of my favourites are:

• eTick A public platform for image-based identification and population monitoring of ticks in Canada.

• Tick Talk presented by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association

• The University of Rhode Island's Tick Encounter page.

• The British Columbia Center for Disease Control

• The Center for Disease Control in the United States

• The One Health Commission linking human, animal and ecosystem health.

While not all the sites accept the actual tick for submission, many of them like to know where you possibly picked up the tick, if it was found on you or your pet, and what species and gender it is! As I mentioned, there are hundreds of different species around the world, and different sub-species still being discovered, but having a basic idea will still help you (and the researchers) learn more so we can prevent the spread of diseases and monitor the migration of the species!

Here in the Okanagan, the Dermacentor variabilis species, know as the American Dog Tick, is the most predominant. The males are easily identified by their patterned dorsal shield (scutum). The females smaller scutum is not as visibly patterned. The primary disease they transmit is Rocky Mountain Spotted fever.

While not as prevalent, we do have Blacklegged Deer ticks, Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes Pacificus here as well. Their dark, black legs are their key identifiers, and the difference in the scutum size differentiates between male and female. This species, particularly Ixodes scapularis, is known for being the transmitter of Lyme Disease in many areas of Canada and the US.

In Part III, we'll delve deeper into tick-borne illnesses.

The Tick Lifecycle

As much as we don't want to think about it, these crawling critters reproduce! Depending on the species, they need two to three hosts to move through their life stages, feeding off a host before they grow and molt into their next stage.

Tick eggs are tiny! They are translucent brown/red, literally the size of period ( . ) and usually laid in a cluster of 1000-8000 eggs on the soil or some leafy debris. Depending on the season they will hatch in 9 - 60 days.

Six-legged larvae emerge and feed off small mammals, such as birds or mice. The larvae molt into eight-legged nymphs, who feed on larger hosts like dogs, cats, deer, etc.

After the nymphs feed, they molt into adult ticks. The adult ticks feed on a host and look for a mate to complete their lifecycle. After mating, the male tick dies, while the female lays the 1000-8000 eggs that start the cycle anew, before she dies as well.

Where do Ticks Live?

Ticks like to be in tall grasses and shrubs, ideally along deer/wildlife paths. Think of all the amazing areas we have to explore in the Okanagan valley - many of them are home the incredible wildlife we like to admire. They're also home for ticks.

Ticks typically position themselves at a height where they can detect the carbon dioxide exhaled by potential hosts and latch onto them as the host moves nearby. This height range typically spans from human knee level to head height, or average dog to deer heights

Ticks quest for their host. When they sense carbon dioxide, they will send their front legs out, "questing" for hair, fur, or clothing to latch onto! Curved hook-like front legs enable them to grasp onto their host as they pass, and then the tick will migrate (crawl) around the host until they find their ideal dining spot - no reservations required.

What is that ideal dining location? Usually someplace warm, thin skinned, with an ample supply of blood vessels. Often this means in the armpits, and groin of our pets or ourselves, but you'll also find them anywhere amongst your pets fur, and even in your hair. It is not unusual for a tick to crawl off your pet, onto you, your bedding, or another pet in search of their meal location. That's why it is important to always check yourself, your family members, and your family's pets for ticks after exploring areas where there might be ticks! This is still important even if your pets are on tick prevention medications, and you used bug repellants!

Now, I'm sure you've started scratching a little bit, brushing off that thing (probably a hair) that feels like it's crawling along your skin. When you go take a look, you will now be able to identify if it is actually a tick, and you could even research which type of tick it is! You're on your way to tackling ticks during your adventures!

But what do you do when you find a tick?

How are they actually getting their meal from you, without you noticing until you find them?

Learn more in The Telltale Tickle of Ticks Part II: An Embedded Feast, and the Famine of Extraction!