By Pat Dray
The Garden Spot
Pat Dray
Earlier this spring, I noticed a bite that was quite red, and sure enough, found a tick imbedded in my neck. My husband couldn’t remove it so we went to urgent care. The physician could not remove a part of the tick, so I was treated with the assumption that the tick was carrying Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria).
I’m sure that if you spend any amount of time outdoors, you’ll find a tick or two on yourself or your pet sometime this spring and summer.
First identified in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975, Lyme disease is now the most common tick-borne illness in Europe and the US.
Although most of us will immediately fear Lyme disease if we discover an imbedded tick on our bodies, seven new tick-borne illnesses have been discovered over the past 20 years. It will generally take between 10 minutes and two hours for a tick to imbed itself on a host and spread disease, so avoidance and prompt removal of any ticks is key to illness prevention.
According to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, about 75 percent of Lyme disease cases are associated with activities around the home, either while playing, doing yard work or gardening. Since ticks live in areas with tall grass, brush or wooded areas, when enjoying the outdoors avoid tall grasses, wood piles and shrubs.
Ticks don’t “jump” – they play contact sports only. Wear a hat and long, light colored pants tucked into your socks so that you see any ticks easily and can remove them before they reach your skin. Use Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or 2-undecanone. You can treat your clothing with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin, which will remain protective through several washings. You can even buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear, including special socks.
I spray my gardening pants and hat with repellent and always leave them outside between washing just in case they have a hitchhiker on board. Shower as soon as possible upon coming indoors, but always within two hours to minimize the potential for any tick to imbed itself. Wash clothing in hot (not warm) water, or put it in the dryer on high for 10 minutes to kill any ticks that may have attached themselves.
It’s also important to check your pets for ticks, since they can bring one into the house where it may then migrate to you. There are a wide variety of prescription medications (oral and topical) for protecting pets against ticks.
Follow these tips and have a safe and enjoyable summer. Please join the Garden Club of Orange as we help celebrate the town’s 200th birthday by hosting a standard flower show, “Bicentennial Blooms,” on June 5 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the High Plains Community Center Gym.
Pat Dray is a past president of the Garden Club of Orange and a master gardener.