An uptick in ticks

When our golden doodle was 10 years old, we found ticks on her following three separate hikes.  After years of forest walks, it was the first time we had encountered a tick. That was a decade ago.

More recently our family dogs have picked up ticks – in our yard. They were all of the black-legged/deer tick variety, the kind that can transmit Lyme disease, among other illnesses. Those critters probably arrived after hitchhiking on a bird or white-footed mouse. We don’t have white-tail deer in the backyard.

Haliburton and Kawartha Lakes are now on the map of established tick areas in Ontario. Those little blood suckers have spread widely in southern and eastern Canada since first being detected at Long Point on Lake Erie in the 1970s. Among other factors, our rapidly increasing global temperatures have created perfect conditions for the eight-legged critters:  longer warm seasons allow for multiple breeding cycles, and more of them survive our warmer winters. It’s just something else we can thank the fossil fuel industry for. Those oil and gas emissions keep cranking up our temperatures.

A recent study showed 25 per cent of ticks sampled in Ontario and Quebec carried the Lyme bacteria, though that can be much higher in Nova Scotia and the northern U.S. An infected bite can cause a bullseye rash, fever, headaches and joint pain. Caught early, Lyme is treatable with antibiotics. Long term effects are more serious.

Public Health agencies nationally, provincially and locally keep tabs on Lyme disease numbers. In 2016, our area saw 12 lab-confirmed cases. Last year the number was 94.  Canadian cases doubled from 2022 to 2024.

On the good news side, along with more global heating, we’re also seeing more Virginia opossums in Canada. They look like large, white-faced rats, but they’re friend, not foe. Opossums help clean up the environment, dining on carcass bones, rotting vegetation and insects – including lots of ticks.

Several tick vaccines are now being developed, one of which will complete human trials by the end of the year. Hopefully vaccine solutions are available before the Lone Star tick makes inroads in Canada. It is spreading rapidly in the U.S. And its ill-fated victims develop a meat allergy that shows up several hours after eating that steak or pork chop. In the most severe cases, it will cause an anaphylactic reaction, or heart problems.

We can encounter ticks in the woods when we brush past long grasses or branches. When they bite, they immediately “medicate” the area, numbing it while keeping the blood flowing. But they need to be attached for 24-36 hours before they can share the ­­bacteria that causes Lyme, so the sooner they’re removed the better. Health agencies recommend doing a tick check, showering, and throwing clothes in a hot drier for 10 minutes immediately after a walk in the woods.

To discourage tick encounters of the ick kind Health Canada advises:

• Wear light-coloured, long-sleeved shirts and pants.
• Tuck your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks.
• Wear closed-toe shoes.
• Use bug spray with DEET or Icaridin (always follow label directions).
• Walk on cleared paths or walkways.

We need to learn to live with ticks – and ticking off that check list is a good start. At least until a vaccine is available, or we’ve domesticated opossums.