Tips For You and Your Dog
By Sarah A. Orlofske, PhD, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s May, 2023 Newsletter edition.
Warm weather is returning to Wisconsin and that means waterfowl are returning from wintering grounds, wetland plants are emerging from brown soggy ground, and frogs are singing the night away. These pleasant reminders of the changing seasons are interrupted by what are considered by most as a nuisance but are justifiably one of the most important health risks to anyone enjoying the outdoors: TICKS. I hope this summary and resources are helpful to both you and your canine companions as you enjoy the spring season.
Deer Tick
First of all, what are ticks and why does that matter? Ticks are arachnids, like spiders and scorpions. In their adult life stage, they have eight legs like spiders, but have mouthparts specifically suited to sucking blood of primarily mammals and birds. Ticks have a life cycle that occurs across many seasons and even years, which is why spring tends to be one of the highest risk periods. Ticks hatch from eggs as larvae which are the size of pin heads, then they attach to their first host, typically a small mammal like a mouse. They take a blood meal then fall off and molt into a nymph stage which is the size of a poppy seed. They attach to another host which can include a wide array of species including humans, take another blood meal, fall off and molt again. At this stage the ticks become adults and require one more blood meal before they can mate and lay eggs, continuing the cycle. Typically, adult ticks that overwinter show a small peak of activity in early spring (think March and April – depending on the weather) followed by a much larger peak of nymph and larvae in May through July followed by the largest pulse of adult tick activity in the fall.
There are slight differences in activity based on the type or species of tick. There are two main species in Wisconsin Ixodes scapularis aka Deer Tick, Bear Tick, Black-legged tick and Dermacentor variabilis aka Wood tick or American Dog Ticks. As you can see these ticks go by many common names making identification confusing! However, tick identification is key because while ticks alone are important parasites, their bacterial pathogens are far more dangerous. In Wisconsin, the most important vector-borne infection is Lyme disease caused by a spiral shaped microscopic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. This disease is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis only and causes a disease in humans and dogs that ranges from fever, headache, fatigue to more serious effects such as arthritis like joint problems and paralysis.
Tickborne diseases make prevention methods for you and your pets essential including proper clothing, insect repellents, checking for and removing ticks right away. Dogs are particularly susceptible to tick bites and tickborne diseases – discuss specific prevention methods with your veterinarian. Another consideration is that you don’t want ticks from your dog to get into your home and biting you and your family. Make a habit of checking your pet daily especially after being outside particularly areas like between legs, ears, between toes and under collars where ticks like to hide and remove ticks right away.
If you find and remove ticks and you want to identify them, Wisconsin has specific identification resources available to you https://wisconsin-ticks.russell.wisc.edu/tick-identification-for-public-health-and-medical-professionals/
And I would also recommend checking out the Tick App for more info and resources including additional prevention tips and recommendations, interactive maps and more https://tickapp.us/
By reporting your sightings, you can help protect others and help researchers track environmental conditions that support tick activity.
If you want to learn more about ticks, tick diseases or have a question about tick identification please reach out! Part of my role as curator of our museum collection of parasites is to help the public understand parasites better and identification is key part of that process. sorlofsk@uwsp.edu
Below are some additional resources to help you increase your tick knowledge!