Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Pull up your socks and check your pets – tick season is already here in full swing.
Rob and Kathy Bull from Cambridge, Ont., want to remind everyone to keep an eye out for ticks on themselves and their animals.
After taking their four-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Roxy, for a short stroll through Dumfries Conservation Area, they ended up removing about 20 ticks from her. Last week, they shared a video on social media showing nearly 20 ticks crawling inside a green vial.
“Mostly her abdomen, but there were a few [ticks] in her beard, a couple on the top of her head, behind her ears, shoulders. They were pretty much everywhere,” Rob said.
The roughly one-kilometre trail he walked Roxy along was covered with clear-cut gravel.
“She’s a Jack Russell, so she’s always sniffing around everything close to the ground. And since she’s not very tall, it’s tough to keep her strictly on the path,” he explained. “But she didn’t go off into thick grass or anything like that.”
Rob and Kathy Bull took their Jack Russell, Roxy, on a one-kilometre walk through Dumfries Conservation Area in Cambridge, Ont., and ended up having to pick a bunch of ticks off their pet’s body. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
Ticks are relatives of spiders; they have eight legs and flat oval bodies that swell when they feed. They live off the blood of all sorts of animals including humans.
While most ticks don’t spread diseases or cause serious issues, some can be harmful.
Thankfully for Roxy, these were dog ticks-not the black-legged tick (also called deer tick) that carries Lyme disease.
Rob pulled off many of them by hand but used a special tool for the rest.
“They weren’t attached luckily because it had just happened,” Kathy added.
“We bought tick and flea meds for her but I’d gotten slack about giving it regularly,” she said. “And I’ve talked to lots of people who say they’ve also forgotten.”
Tick Season Is Here
Even Katie Clow-a vet-admits she sometimes forgets too.
“I need reminders myself to make sure my dog gets treated,” she said.
Clow works as an associate professor at the University of Guelph and specializes in ticks and diseases they carry.
The Bulls-and many others online-think Waterloo region’s warm winter helped local tick numbers grow but that’s not totally accurate.
Clow explained that ticks survive most winters by hiding under brush layers anyway. The bigger numbers come from several things including better awareness among people now than before.
The path Roxy walked through Dumfries Conservation Area was all gravel, but that didn’t stop the ticks from latching onto her. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
“Ticks are slowly spreading north each year finding new spots where they settle down,” she said.
“It’s partly because more folks know about them now which is good-but really our tick problem is getting worse.”..... ..
Keep Checking For Ticks
A release from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health says anyone bitten by a tick should carefully remove it then take a photo and upload it either through their online submission page or at etick. ca-the province’s website.n
From there experts identify what kind it is then advise what steps you should take next.n
Clow shared some tips too – first thing being “do thorough checks for ticks after you come back indoors from places where ticks live.”n
In areas with tall grass or brushy patches especially because that’s where ticks climb up plants waiting patiently for something to walk by so they can grab hold.n
LISTEN | Spring also means tick season:n
The Morning Edition – K-W10:35Spring is tick season in Waterloo regionn
After walking recently at Dumfries Conservation Area Kathy and Rob Bull picked over a dozen ticks off their dog Roxy They tell their story while host Craig Norris chats with veterinary expert Katie Clow at University of Guelph.
Clow suggests searching your pet carefully especially around head & ears “because those are places where dogs stick noses into bushes.”
“We want to catch them before they latch on properly or right after.”
That doesn’t mean folks have to stay inside.
“We do have beautiful spots outdoors,” she noted “but try sticking mostly to marked trails or well-maintained areas away from dense grass brush forest edges.”
Source link
