Tick- Tock It’s Tick Time
Common hard ticks found in B.C are black-legged tick or deer tick, the wood tick and the brown dog tick. The one tick we are most worried about is the black–legged tick. Blacklegged ticks cannot jump or fly, they climb onto vegetation and wait till an animal comes along and then they catch a ride. These ticks feed by attaching their mouthparts to the skin and drinking blood very slowly over a period of days. A tick bite is normally painless; their bodies expand as they engorge the blood. If a blacklegged tick is infected with a tick-borne disease, such as Lyme disease, it can pass this infection along to its host during feeding. Not all ticks will have the disease causing agent and the tick requires 24 hours once attached to its prey to prepare its body to expand. Tick-borne diseases naturally circulate between blacklegged ticks and rodents, small mammals and white-tailed deer. Most wild animals do not become ill from these agents, as well, you cannot become infected with tick-borne disease by consuming meat or handling the pelt from a wild animal. Still, the ticks may transfer to you when handling the animal. The easiest way to protect yourself while enjoying the great outdoors is by wearing proper clothing, keeping shirts buttoned and tucked into pants, and wearing proper footwear.
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