Ticks are not an Acquired Taste - but Humans are!
A Good Ticking Off
As an ex-teacher I know how much my students valued me ticking their work. Doubtless they thought I was showing my appreciation (although I always felt the ‘non-tick’ comments I wrote to correct their work was ten times more valuable for their learning).
However, it is another kind of tick that I am focussing on today. The creepy-crawly ones.
Innocent looking creepy-crawly, but stay tick-aware (Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust)
Increasing numbers of ticks are being discovered on their bodies by unsuspecting members of the British public. Not just in the countryside but also in urban parks. As the climate warms so ticks from warmer countries find their way here.
Ticks climb herbaceous plants like grasses and bracken, waiting at the top of the plant for a passing fury mammal like a dog or sheep and even smoother mammals such as wild deer and humans.
Long vegetation close to ponds also attracts them, since all wild animals are drawn to sources of water. As the mammal (or perhaps bird) passes, the waiting tick hooks on with clawed legs.
There are many different species of tick found in the UK, carrying a range of diseases. The best known of these is Lyme Disease, a debilitating illness if not treated with antibiotics. Lyme disease is so important that it even has its own awareness month - May.
Other diseases are also available and include rarer ones such as tick bourne encephalitis (TBE), whilst the more exotic diseases carried by warmer loving ticks include Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCFH). Thankfully this is not a UK problem as yet, unless of course you holiday in the Balkans or Mediterranean area. Serious cases of this virus-bourne disease can be fatal. But who is to say it won't be a problem in the UK at some future (date.https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/disease-vectors/surveillance-and-disease-data/tick-maps)
Ticks are 8-legged spider-like invertebrates possessing what some describe as “chainsaw mouthparts” to open up the skin and bear CO2 detectors on their legs to help them find their prey.
Once they have ‘hooked’ their prey they burrow into the skin, although they can take several hours to settle, so check your clothing on return from a walk especially when long vegetation might be brushed past. Also check your body when you have a shower and of course children and dogs
If you find one don't pull them off as you will like as not detach their bodies from their heads which remain under the skin. Ideally take a tick remover or long-nosed tweezers with you when you go walking.
The likelihood is that you won't notice them on your skin, their touch is so light, so checks are very important.
There are many tick removal tools on the market
For more information go to https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/
Stop Press: Minotaur Beetle nominated as UK Invertebrate of the Year (The Guardian)
How topical is this blog? On 20th February I reported the discovery of Minotaur Beetles at Bat Park. They were a revelation to me and are not particularly common in the UK (largely due to all the bug-killing chemicals British farmers put into their livestock - which then ends up in their dung). However, at Bat Park they have an alternative source of animal dung - Rabbit droppings - which are beetle friendly.