If you spend time outdoors, it’s time for a tick talk

If you spend time outdoors, it's time for a tick talk

"There's simply a lot of ticks around."

That was the response when we asked Escher Cattle, extension educator in horticulture and entomology for Barnstable County, about this year's tick outlook.

"It does look like populations are up this year," he said. "We are at a 10-year high, according to the Boston Globe, for emergency department visits for tick exposure."

Why the surge?

"Ticks follow the food and the animals that ticks like to feed upon - deer, mice and turkeys - do really well in the suburban and fragmented forest habitats we have on the Cape," he said. "Rising winter temperatures and shorter winters, along with hotter summers, make it so that it's more comfortable for those animals. That also leads to there being more resources to support larger populations of ticks."

While some people are so afraid of ticks they hesitate to step off pavement, others walk through tick-filled environments without a care. Where on that scale should people be?

"I think the best place to be is a very healthy amount of, I won't say fear, but caution," Cattle said. "The tick density on Cape Cod means that the risk is very high of being bitten by one. Currently, our data says that at least 40 percent of deer ticks carry at least one kind of disease. There are no tickborne diseases that are not serious."

Prevention is Key

But don't let that stop you from enjoying the outdoors, he said. Just take a few precautions. "There are things that you can do that are as simple as putting on sunscreen or putting on your seatbelt," said Cattle.

The best things that you can do, he said, are:

• Wear permethrin-treated clothing and dress in a way that makes it difficult for ticks to get to your skin.
• Wear closed-toed shoes
• Tuck your pants into your socks and your shirt into your pants.

"Wearing clothing that's tight around the openings makes it difficult for ticks to get in," he said.. "(Ticks are) very sturdy, but they're not strong. They can only crawl around, so make sure you create those barriers."

Be careful even at the beach, since dog ticks thrive in dune grass. You're more likely to encounter deer ticks at edge habitats, bordering managed land and forest areas.

"There's a lot of that around residential areas," said Cattle.

Some measures to take around your home include:

• Removing wood piles to cut down on mice.
• Removing piles of fallen leaves, which are a hospitable environment for ticks.
• Cut tall grass.

Check your pets for ticks because they could bring them into your home. "Talk to your veterinarian about your options for tick prevention," he said.

Light-colored clothing makes it easier to see ticks that are on your clothing. After coming inside, check your arms and legs, but really check places where skin meets skin and fabric meets fabric, said Cattle.

"The backs of your knees, your armpits, your groin, your neck and your hairline are especially important. Checking your body with your fingers is very effective because you'll know if you feel something kind of hard that wasn't there before."

How to Get Them Off

If a tick is attached to your body, Cattle recommends using tweezers, rather than your fingers, to remove it. Get the end of the tweezers as close to your skin as possible, grab the hard part of the tick and pull firmly. Clean out the wound with either alcohol or soap and water.

"People are allergic to tick saliva, so you'll probably have a little bit of irritation and itchiness around the bite," he said.

Monitor for symptoms over the next couple weeks. If you start to feel flu symptoms like fever, headaches, nausea or an achy body, see your doctor or go to one of the Cape Cod Healthcare Urgent Care Centers. A bullseye ring is considered a very telltale sign for Lyme disease, but only about 70 to 80 percent of people who get Lyme disease actually exhibit it. If it's a bacterial infection, like Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, your symptoms can be reversed with antibiotic treatment.

"If you've got something like Powassan virus or babesiosis, then you'll need other kinds of treatment," Cattle said.

If you are bitten and remove a tick from your body, you can submit it for testing, which costs $60. "It covers the most common diseases that a tick might have in them," he said. "It can be very helpful to tell your doctor, 'The tick that bit me had this disease, and we need to consider getting me treated for it.'"

For more information, visit the county's website on tick-borne illness information and prevention.