By Steve Wilent
The Mountain Times
Near the end of an off-trail ramble through the woods near Welches a few years ago, my companion noted that we were in prime tick country as we pushed though a patch of thick brush. I was skeptical, since I had never encountered ticks in our area. As if on cue, a few minutes later I found a tick on one of my socks, crawling slowly toward a meal of nice, warm A-positive blood. I dispatched the tick before it could latch on to me or someone else.
There are several species of ticks in Oregon, but only a few feed on humans or pets: the American dog tick, the Pacific Coast tick, the Rocky Mountain wood tick, and the western blacklegged tick. You can come across ticks year-round, but the pesky critters are most active during warmer months, generally April to September.
Like most woodsfolk, I’ve encountered ticks numerous times, including some that had succeeded in attaching themselves. Fortunately, I suffered no serious effects, such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Although the latter is rare in Oregon, about 65 people contract Lyme disease from ticks each year in our state, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Dogs and horses can get the disease, too. Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.
Fortunately for us Oregonians, Lyme disease is much less common here than in the Northeastern US and Minnesota and Wisconsin. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that an estimated 476,000 people contract Lyme disease each year in the US. Untreated, Lyme disease can produce a wide range of symptoms, depending on the stage of infection, including fever, rash, facial paralysis, and arthritis. A common symptom is a large, red bull’s-eye-shaped rash. If you think you may have the disease, seek treatment as soon as possible. See cdc.gov/lyme for more information.
Rest assured, the vast majority of people who are bitten by ticks do not get any disease. However, the best defense is to avoid brushy and grassy areas and, as I did on a recent hike near Grants Pass. It’s best to walk in the center of trails and try not to come in contact with shrubs, low-hanging tree branches, and tall grass — ticks may be waiting there to hitch a ride. The Oregon State University Extension Service recommends wearing long-sleeved shirts, tucking pant legs into socks, and wearing closed-toe shoes. Wearing light-colored clothing can make it easier to spot ticks, which range from the size of a poppy seed to one-eighth of an inch long. As the sign shown in the photo accompanying this article says, use insect repellent, check yourself for ticks after every hike, and, if you find a tick, remove it as soon as possible.
How do you safely remove them? The CDC advises using fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible, then pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers, if possible. If you can’t remove the mouth parts easily with tweezers, leave them alone and let the skin heal. After removing the tick (or most of it), thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
Don’t use discredited methods to remove them such as coating the tick with petroleum jelly or applying a hot match or lit cigarette to the tick. Instead of getting the tick to back out, these methods can make a tick burrow in deeper. Also, a hot match or lit cigarette can burn you instead of the tick — ask me how I know.
Never crush a tick with your fingers, warns the CDC, because doing so may transfer a disease from the tick to you. You might safely squash a tick with a rock or stick. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag or container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.
Have a question about ticks? Want to know what ticks and the Eiffel Tower have in common? Let me know. Email: SWilent@gmail.com.