Ah spring is finally upon us! The temperatures are warming up, grass and trees are getting green, and the birds and bugs are out. And that includes ticks.
Ticks have become a bigger concern more recently than they ever were in previous years. Besides the fact that they are gross and bite you and bury their head under your skin to suck your blood (ew!) certain types of ticks called deer ticks carry Lyme disease. Ticks can attach to you or your pets so you need to take precautions to prevent getting bitten. Ticks have specific climate needs (humidity and temperature) which sees them most in the Spring and Fall seasons. Specific information about ticks in Ontario
For your pets you can consult with your veterinarian about using a preventative medication to protect your pets from tick bites. Another good idea is to always check your pets (and yourself) after any walk or hike that might take you close to an area with ticks. Here is a link to help identify areas on your pet that you might find ticks
After a short hike with two of my own dogs last weekend on part of the Bruce Trail in Caledon East I unknowingly brought home a hitchhiker 😦 I was working in the afternoon and felt an itch on my outer thigh that wouldn’t go away. A short while later I checked the site where the itch was and much to my surprise (and dismay!) I found a tick had bitten me and was stuck in my leg! It must have attached to me earlier in the day on my hike and had been making its way up my leg inside my pants all day – how gross is that!?!? I have removed ticks from my pets in the past so knew I had to get the whole thing out including the head and I have sent it to Public Health to be tested.
The hitchhiker I brought home…
Wags & Wiggles Dog Walking & Pet Sitting 
update on my little hitchhiker…Public Health called to confirm a positive identification of my friend as a Deer tick which is the kind of tick that carries Lyme disease and has been sent for further testing to determine if it actually is positive for carrying Lyme….they will update me when they have results. In the meantime, I have not had any signs or symptoms, the site on my leg where the little bugger decided to have lunch did not get the telltale ‘bullseye’ rash and it was only on me for 8-12 hours so I’m pretty certain I’m ok. Public Health also placed another call to me to get the exact location of where I hiked that day so they could go do a ‘tick sweep’ to gather and test ticks they find
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