are ticks active when there is snow on ground? temps going up and down- up to 50 tomorrow, but snow all over still. are tick chances lower? or must it be hard winter?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
YES!!! The snow blankets them.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Every day, every year, every where. Any where a bird can fly or a rodent can scamper. Any temperature.
Even penguins at the Antarctic have been found to harbor stow-a-way ticks - and, yes, they have been found to carry borrelia. That's a puzzle for ya'.
They can survive 17 below zero (maybe lower when burrowed in snow) and they can survive forest fires by burrowing inside cool, moist moss covered hideouts in the knots & "elbows" of trees.
Christmas trees can pose challenges, too. -
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- This shows that some species of ticks can withstand the most intense cold / ice / snow.
I'm not so sure infections are so easily contained, though, it's just that so seldom might people interact with the kinds of creatures in frozen lands - without humans wearing all layers of clothing.
I do know, for certain, that it's a myth that only deer ticks transmit lyme. Many other kinds of ticks have been proven to do so, even right in the U.S.
Ixodes uriae is a species of parasitic tick, known to infect marine birds.[1]
It is native to many high latitude areas in the northern and southern hemispheres including Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula, Russia, Patagonia, South Africa and Australia.[2]
Vector
Ixodes uriae has been shown to be a vector of Borrelia garinii, a species of spirochaete that causes Lyme disease in humans.
However, in order for the bacterium to infect man, another species of tick would have to be involved, Ixodes scapularis which is found on deer.
Cross infection between seabirds and deer is uncommon because they do not share the same habitat so the risk to human health of infected Ixodes uriae is minimal.[5] -
Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
Lisa, Ticks are year round, I'm from Boston, MA and I see them all winter....
Take care, steve
Posted by GretaM (Member # 40917) on :
Yes!
In the south country the moose are covered and really sick from the ticks this year.
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
Any time & any day.
Once it falls below 32 (freezing point) they cannot move as readily & enter a cryogenic state. If there is a snow fall, many are blanketed, but can be still kept alive under the snow.
Even with snow & if the temp raises above 32 they can come out of hiding. They can still come from trees, bushes, and from animals that can drop them on top of the snow.
Once on a mammal or in the dwelling of an animal (tree, underground, den...etc), they can be kept warm & fed year round despite the harshest of weather.
Posted by triathlongal (Member # 31684) on :
Yes, I have been infected in February.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Don't forget that some have been infected by ticks found on Christmas trees!!
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
They come out with the sun. If the sun is out, they are out.
Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
I thought the Christmas tree thing was not true?
o bother.
ok.
how is anyone gonna stay disease free in this world? is it possible? Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
Most would say ticks do not go in christmas trees. But, Spiders and Cinara Aphids do -
Cinara Aphids look like ticks, photo below.
Steve
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Good point about spiders and learning how to identify various critters, too.
Still, we have to be careful about urban myths. The truth is that ticks CAN & DO go into Christmas trees, though, even if most "say" they don't.
I personally know two people who were infected with lyme from ticks that came in on their Christmas tree. Only thing is, no doctor would believe them - for years.
A LL ND in my state has also known this to happen for more than one patient.
Finding the tree from a farm / independently operated stand / lot so you know who the farmer is and how they treat their trees is important. Some may take great pains to limit this problem.
Having the tree "shaken" at the tree farm can help. But, then, ticks can be on the grounds and on those nearby when the shaking is done -- or afterward.
Tiny ticks & nymphs may more likely to hide out during the dragging it about and shaking(but, really, any tick can hold on if in the right place in tree bark) and then come crawling out when the tree is set up at home and it's all nice and warm.
And not just with trees. All greenery needs to be considered.
Sadly, many of the "artificial" options look frightful and are loaded with chemicals (and dust from years in the attic?).
Now is the time to think about how to create an artistically pleasing or just cozy lovely ambience, though. There are ways.
Spraying a natural tree with (I don't know what but please don't make it chemical based -- there is an orange / citrus spray some say works) when still out in the woods or at the lot . . . taking precautions of sorts . . . . -
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Former member bettyg was bitten by a tick that came in on her Christmas tree. I've heard other reports as well. Why WOULDN'T the ticks be on the trees?
Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
Keebler, I couldn’t agree with you more, I know ticks can be found on trees/Christmas trees.
It’s really sad that most, almost all web-sites say (no ticks are found on Christmas tree).
I haven’t brought a real tree in over ten years, and never will.
Steve
Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
how do people know the tick was on the tree that bit them? I mean, if they SAW the tick come off the tree wouldn't they kill it before it gets to them? or did they just find a tick on themselves AFTER they put a tree up and decided it must have come from there?
it just seems impossible for anyone to ever say with certainty that they got lyme from this or that unless they had a bullseye or other rash that they know came from an attached tick.
I mean, you can get it from fleas. mosquitoes, flies...... right? and tears? colostrum. sex.
I just think anyone that says they got from some other "host" like an animal or tree or whatever is only guessing unless they actually saw the tick come off the host and go on them and attach! but who would even allow that in their right mind? Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
well, I got my lovely lyme et al from somewhere. I know that. I had a bullseye 17 yrs ago, BUT I now think I had it before that and just over the years got reinfected who knows how many times.
I have grown up with at least having 15 pets in my life, lived next to woods or cornfields almost constantly, played in woods and cornfields all through my childhood, had a live Christmas tree almost my entire life, went camping, went hiking, slept in grass, attended outdoor grassy sports, walked through fields, been to neighbors houses that had pets, and gardened my entire life......
so for me to say I got all my troubles from one little tick 17 years ago is just naive. not possible. they are everywhere. and now , yes, finding a tick on a penguine, and even testing a cave man for bb and found him + for it seals the fate of humankind in my mind.
doomed.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I don't remember the story but I think in betty's case she knew it was from the tree. She may have seen more ticks on the tree after finding one on her??
Not every state has so many ticks that they are seen every day or even every month.
I've seen two ticks in the past 18 yrs here in MO. But of course I do not walk on grass unless there is simply no other option.
Posted by Eight Legs Bad (Member # 13680) on :
I recently heard about a lady here in the UK who got very ill with Lyme. She found ticks on a Christmas tree imported from Scandinavia (hyperendemic area of Europe).
Elena
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
If they are not on a animal or bird. When it is freezing they cant move.
And they do not swim well either,so learn to Kayak instead of hike.Just watch out for overhanging limbs.
I would like to see all ticks thrown in a pond full of hungry baby blue gills.
MADDOG
Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
we just found a tick on our dog last night. ugh
I am so pissed and upset.
my husband takes her for walks in wooded areas and lets her loose.
now there's probably ticks in my bedroom and whatever.
now I have to shave her double coat and take her to vet that we can't afford.
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