MYTH: You can feel ticks when they attach.
FACT: The tick secretes a numbing agent and cements itself to the host when inserting its barbed mouthpart.
MYTH: You should burn ticks off or smother them with vaseline.
FACT: Use fine pointed tweezers and pull straight upward with steady pressure. Ticks feed with a suck and spit technique. Avoid upsetting the tick ~ an aggravated tick will regurgitate the contents of its gut into its host. Attach the tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull upward with a steady pressure. It may take a few minutes for the tick to be removed.
MYTH: Ticks jump from trees above you.
FACT: Ticks quest…they make their way to the top of a blade of grass or small bush, holding on with their back legs with front legs extended. as they sense movement, heat or carbon dioxide, then grab on as their host passes. Immature ticks will be found close to the ground in leaf litter, attached to small rodents or at the interface of lawn and wooded edge.
MYTH: Mosquitoes cause more health concerns by number in the US.
FACT: In 2014, of the nearly 50,000 vector-borne diseases reported to the CDC, 94% were tick-borne diseases, while only 6% were mosquito-borne.
Have a tick problem? Let our professionals at Mainley Ticks help, call us today where we’ll be more than happy to help you!
