There is a common misconception that ticks hibernate or die off over the winter like many other insects. Unfortunately this is not the case with these arachnids. Adult ticks are active year-round. Why is this important? On a warm winter day your kids will want to get out and run around. As they run through the fringe vegetation in your yard it is very easy to pick up a tick. While mom might be vigilant in checking the kids for ticks in the summer, who thinks to look in February?
Ticks locate themselves in the fringe areas of your yard. They typically will hang on a leaf or a longer blade of grass waiting for a mammal to walk by. They don't like the open yard or direct sunlight. Ticks don't have eyes. They can sense the presence of mammals and look to hitch a ride to for the blood. Ticks don't actually eat the blood, they use the blood to grow their eggs. Each female can lay up to 18,000 eggs.
The deer tick is the tick that causes Lyme disease in people and pets. Deer are immune to Lyme disease and are an easy host for the ticks. It's not uncommon for one deer to have up to 1000 ticks on it. So one herd of deer can harbor a lot of ticks. Also important to know is that just because they are called deer ticks doesn't mean that if you don't have deer, you don't have ticks. If you are in an area endemic to deer ticks and you have squirrels, birds or other animals, you have deer ticks.
We are all familiar with adult ticks, having pulled them off ourselves, our kids and our pets. The life cycle of the deer tick is four stages egg, larva, nymph and adult. Up to 90 percent of the cases of Lyme disease are caused by the nymph tick, not the adult. The scary thing about them is that they are the size of a tip of a pen or slightly larger than the period at the end of this sentence. If it gets in your kids' hair or on your dog, how will you see it? The good news is that over the winter it's the adults that are active, not the nymph ticks so they are much easier to see.
The kids should be covered up in light-colored clothing so ticks are easy to see. Check them as they come in the house and have them strip off the outer layers in a laundry room so that if ticks are present they are not tracked through the house. Diligently check your kids' hair and unmentionable areas. Take care this winter to make sure that your kids and pets are protected.
John Mitchell is the founder of Backyard Bug Patrol. Backyard Bug Patrol specializes in eradicating ticks and mosquitoes through their proven barrier spray program. They have 100 percent organic tick and mosquito options available. Backyard Bug Patrol was founded after John, his wife and three kids contracted Lyme disease in their own backyard. Their motto is: No child should get Lyme disease in their own backyard. http://www.backyardbugpatrol.com/ 855-NO TICKS