It’s smart to pack everything you need and prepare for threats both big and small when you travel outdoors for long stretches of time. But what about the pests that can pose dangers to you right out in your yard? Learning how to protect against tick bites and reduce their populations can help you stay safe from the sometimes serious side effects that ticks cause.
Ticks & The Dangers They Cause
While they are much smaller than your typical house spider, ticks are eight-legged arachnids. Typically no bigger than an apple seed, ticks are much harder to spot with the naked eye and they tend to hide inside hair or skin folds once they’ve latched onto a host. That’s right, unlike spiders that hunt other bugs, ticks instead feed directly off of the bloodstream of large animals. While ticks are a problem for cattle, deer, and other wildlife, they will not hesitate to bite people, too. It’s this parasitic diet that makes ticks far more dangerous than typical tiny pests. They can transmit diseases via their bites, most notably Lyme disease, which can be quite serious without proper medical attention.
What To Do If A Tick Bites You
It’s not like every tick bite results in sickness. Many simply result in an itchy red welt left behind on the skin. But it’s important to learn how to avoid tick bites in the first place, and what to do if a bite occurs. First, if a tick is biting you, make sure to use fine-point tweezers to grab the tick and pull it off of you. Be careful not to jerk or twist, as this can break off the tick’s needle-like pincers. Also take care not to squeeze or break the tick’s body, since this can expose you to germs at the site of the bite.
Now, more important than what to do if a tick has already bitten you is how to avoid them in the first place. All of the following are factors that can keep ticks off your skin:
- Clothing: When working or playing outdoors, wear long sleeves and full pants to cover up your skin. Arms and legs are frequent first targets for parasites.
- Treatments: Treating your skin or clothing with sprays that contain smells that ticks dislike can temporarily ward them off.
- Careful steps: Ticks like to wait on the tips of leaves or tall grasses, waiting for something they can feed on to brush by. Choosing less overgrown trails and carefully stepping over vegetation can help you avoid ticks.
Worsening Symptoms To Watch For
Once you’re sure that no more ticks are hiding on your body or within your clothing, you need to make sure to be on the lookout for worsening symptoms that might indicate a tick-borne illness. Aside from the itchy mark on the skin, seek medical attention if you notice the following symptoms:
- Fever/chills: One of the first signs of illness is often the temperature fluctuations that are caused by a fever.
- Rash: One of the telltale signs of Lyme disease is a red or pink bullseye rash that can occur on any part of the body not necessarily the site of the bite.
- Joint pain: Many diseases that are spread by parasites are marked by aching in the joints and swelling of the lymph nodes, both are signs of advanced illness.
The Best Tick Control Comes From Expert Help
With ticks, it’s better to be safe than sorry. While tick-borne illnesses are rare, bites and infestations aren’t. Only by protecting your property properly can you hope to avoid tracking ticks back inside with you or winding up with a population right out in your yard. At American Pest Solutions, we can advise you on all the ways to avoid tick bites while you’re outdoors and, more importantly, help you eliminate tick problems around your property. Contact us today to schedule an inspection of your property, so you can know for sure whether pests have already moved in or not. Depending on your situation, we will tailor yard treatments and ongoing services to remove pests and prevent future outbreaks. For tick protection, you can rely on, seek help from American Pest Solutions.