April showers bring May flowers, but springtime also brings ticks. Part of the arachnid family, ticks are joined by mites, spiders, and scorpions. Like other arachnids, they're often found in shady, damp, leafy, wooded, or grassy areas, including our backyards.
Ticks feed on the blood of people, dogs, cats, deer, birds, mice, and other mammals. They can spread diseases like Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In Massachusetts, blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, spread Lyme disease. The highest incidence rates are among children and the elderly.
Deer ticks have a two-year life cycle and go through three stages of development: larvae, nymph, and adult. Deer tick season comes in early spring, when adults that were dormant during the winter emerge to lay thousands of eggs in leaf litter and other brush.
Later in the spring, those eggs hatch and nymph stage deer ticks begin to look for their first blood meal of the season, often targeting humans, pets, and rodents. This is a problem because is is estimated that around 20% of nymph stage ticks, which are highly active during the late spring, carry Lyme disease.
After being outdoors this spring, remember these two important tick tips:
- Perform tick checks on yourself, your family, and pets. Do a full-body check, but focus on the back of your knees, around your waist, under armpits, and on your scalp. Ticks DO NOT wash off in the shower.
- Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later. Examine pets, coats, and day packs. Place the clothes you and your family are wearing in the dryer for about 15 minutes on high. This will kill any ticks on clothing.
Lyme disease prevention starts with awareness. If you find a tick, download our free Tick Identification Card to identify the species and life-cycle stage:
If you are seeing ticks on your property this deer tick season, and especially if you're finding them on yourself, kids or pets, learn about our natural, and National Organic Program compliant, lawn tick spray services.
Happy Outdooring!
