The Telltale Tickle of Ticks: Part 1 Introducing the Tick

Sometimes you feel it: a delicate movement across your skin.

Sometimes you see it: a little eight-legged insect crawling across your clothes, your dog's fur, or even worse, your bedding!

Sometimes you find it: a little engorged body embedded in the skin, happily having a meal.

Tick season has crawled upon us.

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! I receive numerous requests for my Tick Talk, leaving everyone feeling the heebie-jeebies, and checking themselves and their pets for eight-legged hitch hikers! While presentations are great, you need a reference for those moments you do find a tick! So here it is!

What are ticks?

Related to spiders, ticks are a blood sucking arachnid species spread across the world. They have existed on this planet for over 90 million years, with the oldest known tick identified in a piece of amber sourced from Spain and aged at 105 million years old. That means that even some of the dinosaurs were meal sources for ticks!

Here in North America we have two of the three families of ticks:

• Ixodidae (hard ticks) which has over 700 species identified!

• Argasidae (soft ticks) which has over 200 species identified!

The third family, Nuttalliellidae, is only found in Africa - I just learned about this! Seriously, I'm a bit too excited by the new research articles I've found!

Since there are so many different species spread across North America and the world, I do urge you to learn about the species native to your area. As I live in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, I focus primarily on two species of ticks in my talks:

• Dermacentor variabilis also known as the American Dog Tick

• Ixodes scapularis, and Ixodes Pacificus referred to as the Black-legged or Deer Tick

So while my pictures are species specific to the Okanagan, a lot of the information I'll be discussing can be applied to the variety of tick species.

Basic Tick Anatomy

While there are differences in anatomy between tick species, there are some basic anatomical similarities:

• All ticks have eight legs, except for the larval stage which has six. These legs are covered in fine hairs and have a hook at the end, which is essential for the tick to be able to grasp onto their host as they pass.

• Tick bodies are not segmented, unlike spiders who have 2 parts, and insects who have 3 parts.

• Ticks have a dorsal shield called a scutum, which helps protect them. This is why they're so hard to squish! In male ticks the scutum covers their entire body, and can be covered in ornate patterns like the Dermacentor sp. or be plain, solid coloured like the Ixodes sp. ticks. Female ticks have a smaller scutum, allowing their bodies to expand as they engorge on their meal, in preparation for laying eggs.

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 distinguishes 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!