www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Having just read another thread where these little beasts were mentioned, we should definitely flag up these annoying (and potentially dangerous) pests...
With the warm sunshine recently, everyone should be on the watch out for ticks. These are small spider-like invertebrates, which live off of warm blood. This website seems an excellent place to mention them, as they can be VERY bad news and can cause extremely unpleasant (and dangerous) problems. Anyone trampling around in woods, or rides where deer may be living, should periodically do spot-checks on their clothing and remove any ticks they find. You may be surprised just how many you can find. If these are not removed from clothing, they can easily walk up and onto your skin (especially around the waistband or your back) and latch on. They don't have to be very big to be a problem either, some are tiny! Some species of tick can spread Lyme's Disease - a serious health problem if it isn't treated early.
As a family, during a butterfly trip to wooded areas, we periodically have "tick-stops", where we check each other's clothes quickly, but carefully for ticks. We ALWAYS check family members thoroughly when we get home. I know it sounds scaremongering, but it really IS worth doing. I know more than one person who has been infected with Lyme's Disease, and it ISN'T nice.
One sign is the classic red "bullseye" mark around a bite mark... the central red area, surrounded by another red ring. A visit to the doctor if such symptoms arise a few days after a trip may be wise. If you actually find a tick attached to your skin, you must be careful how you remove it, as they have barbed mouthparts which look a bit like a "christmas tree", which can easily break off. The "saliva" of these ticks contains tiny worm-like bacteria, which cause the disease, so everyone should be aware of this. If you do remove a tick, it is worth saving it (in a small escape-proof container), in case a reaction occurs. If necessary, the species of tick can then be ascertained - useful in diagnosis.

Trev

Well said Trev.

Regards,

- Pete

To see what these ticks actually look like and the "Bulls-eye" rash which may be a sign of Lyme's disease, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

NB: Please note that it is NOT solely a disease encountered in the USA and is seemingly becoming more common in the UK.


Trev

Trev Sawyer wrote:Having just read another thread where these little beasts were mentioned, we should definitely flag up these annoying (and potentially dangerous) pests...
With the warm sunshine recently, everyone should be on the watch out for ticks. These are small spider-like invertebrates, which live off of warm blood. This website seems an excellent place to mention them, as they can be VERY bad news and can cause extremely unpleasant (and dangerous) problems. Anyone trampling around in woods, or rides where deer may be living, should periodically do spot-checks on their clothing and remove any ticks they find. You may be surprised just how many you can find. If these are not removed from clothing, they can easily walk up and onto your skin (especially around the waistband or you back) and latch on. They don't have to be very big to be a problem either, some are tiny! Some species of tick can spread Lyme's Disease - a serious health problem if it isn't treated early.
As a family, during a butterfly trip to wooded areas, we periodically have "tick-stops", where we check each other's clothes quickly, but carefully for ticks. We ALWAYS check family members thoroughly when we get home. I know it sounds scaremongering, but it really IS worth doing. I know more than one person who has been infected with Lyme's Disease, and it ISN'T nice.
One sign is the classic red "bullseye" mark around a bite mark... the central red area, surrounded by another red ring. A visit to the doctor if such symptoms arise a few days after a trip may be wise. If you actually find a tick attached to your skin, you must be careful how you remove it, as they have barbed mouthparts which look a bit like a "christmas tree", which can easily break off. The "saliva" of these ticks contains tiny worm-like bacteria, which cause the disease, so everyone should be aware of this. If you do remove a tick, it is worth saving it (in a small escape-proof container), in case a reaction occurs. If necessary, the species of tick can then be ascertained - useful in diagnosis.

Trev

Good post Trev, I'm keeping a close eye on one of my bites

Bill

I have a pair of dedicated tick tweezers for the dog and have occasionally used them on me too! It is definitely worth getting some from a pet shop because they make removal simple and complete (and quite painless even when you are wearing shorts and they attach to embarrassing parts of your body! )

These tweezers open when you squeeze and close when you relax and have cupped ends that fit around the tick body, grasping it tightly at the neck. You clamp them in place and then very slowly rotate them, pulling gently. The tick releases its grip and extracts its head from the skin without leaving any bits or squeezing blood or saliva back into the wound. This minimises the risk of infection.

Guy

We have Lyme's disease and another one as well. Unfortunately I don't know the English name for the other one. It is much faster and just as dangerous. If I recall correctly, Lyme's disease requires that the tick remain in place for hours, which is about the only positive thing about it.

Last year I ended up with a tick in my leg after visiting east blean woods.And no deer are found there?
I discovered it "wriggling" into my leg the next morning and in a panic yanked the body out.
My leg did go a tad red but that was about it.
The head is still in my leg to this day,I did visit the docs he tried to cut it out and he said to keep an eye out for any flu like symptoms.
Horrible little blighters! and that was with boots on and trousers tucked in socks?.

padfield wrote:I have a pair of dedicated tick tweezers for the dog and have occasionally used them on me too! It is definitely worth getting some from a pet shop because they make removal simple and complete (and quite painless even when you are wearing shorts and they attach to embarrassing parts of your body! )

These tweezers open when you squeeze and close when you relax and have cupped ends that fit around the tick body, grasping it tightly at the neck. You clamp them in place and then very slowly rotate them, pulling gently. The tick releases its grip and extracts its head from the skin without leaving any bits or squeezing blood or saliva back into the wound. This minimises the risk of infection.

Guy

I have a crochet type appliance that I got from the vets for my dog. It cost less than £1. The idea is to place the hook end over the mouthpiece and gentley turn until the whole tick comes off. It works well for my dog, but thankfully, I've never had to use it on myself.

My sister-in-law picked up a tick on holiday in the New Forest, and she was really ill. She was off work for some time and in hospital for some of it. My advice would be to wear light coloured clothing (as you can detect them more easily) and check often.

Denise

While on holiday in the west of Scotland, I returned to to the hotel after a Friday afternoon chasing Chequered Skipper around Glasdrum wood and was horrified to find a big fat tick about an inch below my belly button. Aware that you shouldn't just yank them out, I phoned my mother for advice. She in turn contacted a nurse-friend of hers who advised that if you can put up with it being there, you should wait until you can see a doctor, who'll remove it safely.

So, me and the tick became close friends for the weekend. I booked an appointment with the doctor for Monday morning and carried on enjoying my holiday, being careful not to damage the little blighter and burst his increasingly swollen abdomen. On Sunday evening, I was sat up in bed doing a crossword and I couldn't resist giving the tick a gentle prod with the pen I was using. Inevitably, I ended up just transferring a significant amount of blue ink to my own skin, which I couldn't wash off for fear of damaging the tick.

So, on Monday morning when I revealed the tick to my GP, he was physically taken aback by the amount of "bruising" I'd suffered!

Regards, Chris

Hi Chris,

That sounds like a Sheep Tick - what sort of size was it when engorged?

At least (not being a Deer Tick) you didn't have to worry about Lyme's disease...

Felix.

about the size of No.4 fishing shot

Chris wrote:about the size of No.4 fishing shot

Sadly I'm none the wiser! Now had you said a number 4 game shot...

Felix.

Same size ... fishing shot sizes were named according to the game shot convention. The only difference being that a fishing shot has a slot in for attaching it to the line... and is nowadays NOT made from lead (which was deemed dangerous to swans and therefore banned way back in the 1980's). Lead poisoning of swans is still being blamed on "angler's lead shot"... wrong! Anyway, after that short hijacking of the tick thread... back to the plot

Cheers,

Trev

Thanks Tev, that's another new thing I've learned!

Anyway, sounds very much like a small sheep tick, but could have been an adult deer tick (90% of the ones that we see on us are nymphs. The minute larvae (the first stage in the ticks life cycle) tend to live on mice and voles).

Felix.

I've had three of these over the last 2 years.

Here's one I dug out of my leg the day after a trip photographing Red Kites at Gigrin Farm in Wales...

Faints