For what ticks lack in size, they make up for in determination. When you or your family are innocently enjoying the great outdoors, these bloodsucking nuisances relentlessly feed on the blood of humans and animals such as your pet dog. In short, ticks won’t rest until they’ve discovered their next blood meal. Unknowingly, you can be enjoying an everyday walk when ticks use their piercing mouthparts to target and attach themselves to your favourite companions.
Typically reddish-brown in colour, ticks are capable of surviving winter temperatures below 0°C making them incredibly resilient. Worse still, ticks carry and transmit harmful diseases to both humans and animals such as Lyme disease. Fortunately, these bothersome biting pests can be stopped in their tracks with effective tick control.
About one-quarter of an inch, this dark reddish-brown tick is found in wooded areas and near bodies of water, and is most active during spring and summer. American Dog Ticks can also transmit diseases such as Tularemia.
Adults measure one eighth
of an inch with young
nymphs the size of a
pinhead. This tick has a
body that is dark brown to
black with darker legs.
Black Legged Ticks are
found in wooded areas and
fields, and carry diseases
including Lyme disease,
Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis
and Ehrlichiosis.
Reaching nearly one
quarter of an inch, this dark
reddish-brown tick is found
in heavy vegetation and
tall grasses where dogs
and other animals have
been active. Adults are
typically found on the ears
and between the toes of
dogs while the young feed
along the dogs’ backs.
Brown Dog Ticks transmit
diseases to humans
including Canine
Babesiosis and Canine
Ehrlichiosis.
About one-quarter of an
inch, this grayish brown tick
has a white dot resembling a
star on the top of their
abdomen. Found in wooded
areas and near bodies of
water, Lone Star Ticks are
aggressive and actively
travel to the host. These
ticks also transmit diseases
such as Ehrlichiosis and
Tularemia.
Acari/Lxodidae
Dermacentor sp.
Ticks attach themselves to hosts for long periods of time before dropping off to lay eggs. At each stage of their life, they require a blood meal to grow and survive. In short, female ticks need to engorge themselves with blood because this nourishment allows them to produce thousands of eggs. While large numbers of eggs are produced, only small amounts eventually mature.
Ticks don’t embed their entire body into a host but only their piercing mouthparts instead. When biting, ticks inject an anti-clotting agent to prevent the blood from clotting. To detect whether you or your pet has suffered a tick bite, a reddish rash develops around the site of a bite. Meanwhile, arthritis-like pain in one or more joints, or periodic flu-like symptoms can also suggest a tick bite has occurred. It’s important that you seek
medical intervention immediately.
Effective tick control begins with customer co-operation. This includes identifying which particular tick is causing the problem. Terminix Canada’s Ontario branch will then work with you to identify tick activity sites, sanitize the problem areas and provide on-animal control. Ticks can infest just about anywhere so de-cluttering your home is the best place to start. Additionally, washing dirty clothes or linens in hot water and vacuuming your house thoroughly can help keep these relentless pests away.
After that, pets should be treated on the same day that insecticide treatments are applied around the home. In short, the best way to get rid of ticks for good is to contact a professional pest control company like Terminix Canada.
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