A deer tick up close.
Newswise — The pleasures of hikes through woodlands or picnics in the grass are many — and there’s nothing quite like the sight of a blood-seeking tick scrambling up one’s leg to spoil the ambiance.
“There's nothing good I can say about ticks,” said Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day. “When you go outside, enjoy the outdoors but enjoy it carefully. Be aware that ticks are really kind of everywhere — they’re never going to go away — but there’s things we can do to greatly reduce our chance of getting tick bites. At very least, avoid those areas where wildlife is going through tall grass and tall weeds.”
Q: Has the trend toward warmer weather made our tick problem worse?
“Warmer winters, warmer summers means that there is a longer growing season, longer time for the animals to be active that are carriers of ticks. But there’s other factors too. You’re getting a lot more housing development that borders areas where not only deer, but other possible carriers of ticks can be living.”
Q: How do deer herds contribute to the tick population?
“Certainly, deer herds are increasing in suburban and urban environments and deer hunting is declining. You can see that Virginia-wide, nationwide, you know, the number of people hunting for deer has gone down. So that just means a lot more deer and a lot more chances to encounter deer ticks.”
Q: What are the ticks that we should be on alert for?
“All ticks are something to be wary of. All ticks are something that we want to avoid having attached to our skin and feeding on us. We’re kind of used to larger ones like the Lone Star tick or the American dog tick. Those are pretty easily identifiable, and you can see them pretty quickly.
“The deer tick, though, is the exclusive carrier for Lyme disease: small tick, black legs, sometimes known as the blacklegged tick. The issue with the deer tick is just its very small size. It’s very easy to overlook. That’s why often folks don't find them attached and feeding, which is not what you want to have because it’s a chance for them to transmit a disease to you.”
Q: Are ticks only problems for humans?
“People should be aware of the elephant in the room, the invasive longhorned tick that that has been in the news. So far there are few reports of longhorned tick on humans, but it gets on the livestock and is an issue for cattle and sheep in particular.”
Q: How can we keep ticks away?
“Avoid areas with tall grass, weedy growth. These are places where ticks are typically found where they have fallen off their deer host, and they are on the tall grass waiting to hitch a ride. If you can, mow areas like these. Wear protective clothing, long sleeves, long pants, tuck your pants into your socks. I know it's uncomfortable in hot weather, but that forces ticks to stay on the outside of your clothing where they’re much easier to detect.
“There are tick repellents, things like DEET, Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus. There are various versions of permethrin that can be sprayed on clothing, that act essentially as an insecticide. Ticks crawl under your clothing, get a lethal dose and fall off dead. A lot of people use it.”
Read more about these stealthy blood-sucking arachnids in this fact sheet from the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
About Day
Eric Day is the manager of the Insect ID Lab in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech. His areas of expertise include insect identification and pest surveys.
Schedule an interview
To schedule an interview, contact Mike Allen in the media relations office at [email protected] or 540-400-1700.
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