Spring, summer, fall, winter and — ticks?!
That’s right. You may not know it, but we actually have a “tick season” in San Diego County. It’s typically from November through May, when our cooler, wetter weather makes the pests more active and more likely to creep us out by crawling onto us, or our pets, to bite us and feed on our blood.
Fortunately, most of us are unlikely to run across ticks in our neighborhoods. And, there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself from them if you venture into their neighborhoods, like wearing insect repellents, avoiding brushy areas and wearing the right clothes.
Protecting yourself is important because even though tick-borne illnesses are rare in San Diego County, ticks can carry and transmit potentially dangerous diseases including Lyme disease, tularemia (rabbit fever) and spotted-fever illnesses.
Ticks are tiny, parasitic relatives of spiders, scorpions and mites that have hard, flat, external skeletons and feed on blood. They typically hang out in areas where there are wild animals that they can feed on. In San Diego County, you’ll rarely see them in urban and suburban areas. But if you like to hike or venture out into our canyons or backcountry areas, you may find them.
Or, more to the point, they may find you, or your pets. Ticks look for hosts by “questing” — crawling up stems of grass or perching on the edge of leaves, then extending their hook-like front legs so they can latch on and hitch a ride when a person or animal brushes by.
Here are some tips to help keep ticks away:
- If you’re hiking or walking in open space or canyon areas, stay on designated pathways. Choose wide trails and walk in the center. Use insect repellent, preferably that contains DEET.
- Avoid grassy or brushy areas and do not handle wild rodents. Wear light-colored long-sleeved clothing. Tuck shirts into pants and pants into socks.
- Frequently check your clothing, body and companions for ticks.
- Leave pets at home or keep them on a leash. If they haven’t already been treated with a tick and flea regimen, use insecticide powders or sprays labeled for tick control.
- When you come back in from being outside, examine your clothes, gear and pets. Ticks can hitchhike into your home on clothes and pets, then attach themselves to a person later.
- If you find a tick attached to you or your pet, don’t panic, but carefully and immediately remove the insect. Ticks burrow partway into the skin to feed. The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend removing ticks by grabbing them with tweezers as close to the insect’s head as possible and pulling out steadily and firmly.
For more information about ticks go to the County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health’s Tick Web page, and the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tick Web page. You can also watch this County News Center TV video, “Tick Talk.”
