By Marie Boulier
We can’t complain about the weather, well unless you’d rather it rain more often. We can’t complain about the heat, at least not this summer. However, when you mention ‘Ticks’, you are likely to hear a lot of complaining. You might even hear how they jump and fall from trees. How chiggers are biting my feet and legs.
Let’s set the record straight. As far as we know, we do not have chiggers on Long Island. What we do find is larval lone star ticks, and they bite and cause quite a persistent itch, with multiple red bumps. Ticks ‘quest’ by perching on a tall blade of grass and await a host to come along and attach to. They do not normally quest higher than about 18” off the ground. You may think they landed on your shoulder, but rather they are positively geotropic. They climb upwards seeking a warm sheltered location to partake a blood meal.
Not all ticks carry disease, and if they are packing, they need a prolonged meal (attached longer than 24 hrs) to spill the microbes into your system.
So what can you do? When you get home every day do a tick check on yourself, your children and your pets. Check all the areas that don’t normally see sunshine as well. If you walk into a mass of larval (seed) ticks, quickly use some wide tape (masking or duct) to pull as many as you can off before they bite. Carry a change of clothes and a plastic bag with you, so that you can change your clothes and bag the infested ones. When you get home, throw them in the drier on high heat to kill them.
Be “Tick Wise” and learn how to identify the different types of ticks. Come to one of our workshops for more great tips on staying safe. Our tick and mosquito workshops are open to the public, no charge, no pre-registration. For more information, call 631-727-7850.
Marie Boulier is an Educator with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s Pest Management Program. She can be reached at 631.727.7850 Ext. 212 or at mwb38@cornell.edu.