Need-to-know facts about ticks and tips on how to remain tick-free.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
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Monday, August 20, 2012
This season's tick population, including the increased number of the treatments throughout the Mid-Atlantic, has a somewhat surprising cause, acorns. According to Western Pest Services, Oak trees produced an extremely high number of acorns in 2010, leading to an increase in the white-footed mouse population in 2011. In turn, the deer tick, or black-legged tick, had ample supply of its preferred food source. This means that you may spot more of the most common tick in the Mid-Atlantic in your backyard. Phil Pierce, Entomologist and Technical Services Manager for Western Pest Services explains that deer ticks range from the size of a sesame seed to 5/8-inch long. Most ticks are ectoparasites, or parasites that live on the surface of their …
The disease is transferred by the bite of a deer tick. The most common symptom of the disease is a rash around the bite area that resembles a bulls-eye.
It has been a few years since Lyme disease commanded serious media attention, but don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. The truth is that this illness, caused by bacteria carried by ticks, has continued to be widespread. Since it was first identified near the town of Old Lyme, Conn., in 1975, the disease has become common across the Northeast, in the North Central states and on the West Coast, and a form of it is also known in Europe. Yet Lyme disease is still poorly understood. “Many people are confused about it—even physicians,” says Robert W. Tolan Jr., M.D., chief of the division of allergy, immunology and infectious disease at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital. One misconception is that the ticks that carry …
