posted
Yikes! I don't know but that is interesting. I don't like to step off my patio into my yard anymore.
Luckily our trees are back further from our house. But the kids play back there on the swings so I would like to know that answer too!
-------------------- My lyme disease blog: http://lymetimes3.blogspot.com/ One BIG Lyme family! I tested CDC + 10/08 My mom Igenex + 11/08 & My brother Igenex + 4/09, My 2 boys some + & IND bands, clinical diagnosis 3/09 (youngest has Aspergers too) Posts: 470 | From Painesville, Ohio | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
I found a tick crawling on me after walking dogs and I did not set foot on grass - I am sure it was low-hanging trees. I asked my doc and he agrees. I am sure they must blow around in the wind too.
Posts: 133 | From Far Hills, NJ 07931 | Registered: May 2003
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I heard Burrascano say at a lyme conference that ticks do NOT drop out of trees to land on people.
He went on and on about how ticks do not jump. They hang onto the tips of blades of grass or leaves and when you come by they grab/climb onto you.
So, if you brush past a tree or shrub, that is enough contact to get a tick on you.
The heat of a fire will kill ticks in trees above and then you will see DEAD ticks falling out of trees. They are not jumping out of the trees trying to land on people.
Dry heat readily kills them. So, my lyme doc told me to put my clothes in the dryer on hot and that will kill any ticks on them.
Putting them in the washer on hot will NOT kill them.
They cannot tolerate being dried out.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
I believe three feet off the ground or lower is where they usually hang out waiting for prey to brush up against them and hitch a ride.
Posts: 103 | From Northern VA | Registered: Apr 2009
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
The white footed mouse carries the ticks.
They nest in trees.
Birds carry ticks and mites, and their nests are full of them.
So the ticks may not ~jump~ out of trees, but I bet they can fall out.
Carol
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
There was a really interesting study done here in CA about how nymph ticks actually prefer to live in the trunks of trees. In the shelter of the moss.
There have been other studies conducted about more ticks being found on wood logs and picnic tables than in the grass nearby.
I don't have the energy or brain power to locate them right now... but my point, is that all ticks in all locations don't quite inhabit the same areas that we are accustomed to reading about in the standard literature.
There are ticks that like to live in caves, ticks that hang in log cabins, ticks that climb walls, and most certainly ticks that climb trees!
And as Carol pointed out above, ANY animal that can climb a tree, or fly into a tree...can carry a tick into the tree with them. Many studies are conducted on Squirrels, migratory birds, as well as rodents. They are all found in trees.
Now, is the 'tree tick' climbing up there on its own and laying in wait for you to walk underneath so it can jump on your head? Most likely not.
However, if the 'tree tick' is up the tree and is finished with whatever critter took it up that tree, and it wants down... do you think it is going to crawl back down the branches to the trunk and then to the ground again?
Who knows... who has money for THAT study? Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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lymeberry
Unregistered
posted
My theory is wind blows branches leaves and debris out of trees and so ticks easily blow down on tree debris or eggs on tree debris blow down. They do say to wear a hat while out in nature due to ticks. I never leave my moon roof open while parking near trees.
Ticks are in trees due to birds mice and squirrels carrying them up there. I find ticks on my deck all the time. Robert Lane from UC Berkeley has done more than one study on wood and ticks. They like wood logs kindling and trees and do winter in the moss at the base of oak trees. I use to be a tree hugger. Those days are over.
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lymeberry
Unregistered
posted
"Unlike the adult ticks, the nymphs do not climb onto low vegetation while seeking a blood meal. Instead, they live within litter on the forest floor, and they climb on logs and the basal portions of tree trunks up to a height of about 3 to 4 feet."
******************************** UC IPM Disease in California
How to Manage Pests Pests of Homes, Structures, People, and Pets
Lyme Disease in California Revised 10/08
In this Guideline:
Life cycle Lyme disease manifestations Prevention About Pest Notes Publication Glossary
Lyme disease is a potentially serious disease, and can be localized or affect multiple bodily systems. In the United States, the disease is caused by a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, a corkscrew-shaped kind of bacterium.
The spirochete is transmitted to humans and other animals by the feeding activities of certain ticks. Of the 47 tick species established in California, 6 species attach to humans with any regularity, but only the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, is thought to be responsible for transmitting the spirochete to people. Ixodes pacificus has been reported in 56 out of 58 counties in the state, and it attaches to humans more frequently than any other tick. In one study, about 60% of 967 ticks that had attached to people were identified as western black-legged ticks.
A recent compilation revealed that 108 species of lizards, birds, or mammals have been recorded as hosts of this tick in California. A different but closely related tick species, the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), transmits Borrelia burgdorferi in eastern North America, but that tick does not occur in California.
In most areas of northern California where Lyme disease occurs, only about 1 to 2% of the adult Ixodes pacificus ticks and 2 to 15% of the nymphal ticks, on average, are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi.
However, Lyme disease transmission risk can be highly localized. In one woodland site in Mendocino County, for example, 41% of the nymphs were found to contain Lyme disease bacteria.
First recognized in the mid-1970s in Lyme, Connecticut, Lyme disease has been reported in the United States, Canada, and in many European and Asian countries.
The first report of the disease in California appeared in 1978. Lyme disease was designated a reportable disease in California and the United States in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Since 1989, approximately 2,145 cases have been reported in California through 2006.
Considerable year-to-year variation occurs in the number of cases reported to state health authorities. The highest incidence per 100,000 persons per year from 1997 to 2006 occurred in the northwestern counties of Trinity (18.5), Humboldt (7.8) and Mendocino (6.6).
LIFE CYCLE
All ticks have four life stages: the egg and three parasitic stages that feed on the blood of vertebrates, two immature stages (larva and nymph), and the adult stage.
In California, only the nymph and the adult female of Ixodes pacificus are important in transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi to humans. In northern California, people appear to be most at risk in spring until about midsummer, especially from April through July, when the nymphs are abundant. In southern California, the seasonal activity period of the nymphs has not been defined.
It may occur earlier in the year, especially in hot, dry climatic zones, because the nymphs are highly susceptible to drying out. Therefore, nymphs may seek their hosts in late winter/early spring when weather tends to be cooler and relative humidity higher. The tiny nymphs, which are about the size of a poppy seed, readily attach to people.
Nymphal Habitat. Nymphs may be encountered in a variety of habitats, but they are particularly accessible and plentiful in leaf- and fir-needle litter areas in certain types of dense woodlands, for example oak/madrone forests.
Unlike the adult ticks, the nymphs do not climb onto low vegetation while seeking a blood meal. Instead, they live within litter on the forest floor, and they climb on logs and the basal portions of tree trunks up to a height of about 3 to 4 feet, so any activity that places people in direct contact with shed leaves, fir needles or wood (such as gardening, gathering firewood, picnicking, sitting on logs or against tree trunks, woodcutting) may elevate the risk of contracting Lyme disease.
Nymphs are especially attracted to lizards but also feed on birds or small mammals. Once they attach to a person, the nymphs feed for several days before they detach and drop off. They molt to the adult stage weeks or months later.
Adult Habitat. Adult ticks seek their hosts from late fall to spring, but are most active during winter. They climb low vegetation, such as grass or brush, and lie in wait for hours or days while seeking their preferred medium- to large-sized hosts, such as rabbits, dogs, or deer.
Consequently, humans incidentally encounter adult ticks during recreational activities or working in various types of grassland or brushland habitats. In one study, about 85% of the adult ticks that infested the clothing of people walking through grassland did so between the ankle and the knee.
Therefore, when outdoors, individuals should frequently inspect their pant legs to detect and remove ticks before they have a chance to attach to skin. After attaching to a host, adult females ingest blood for about a week, engorging up to nearly four times their original bodily length. They then drop off the host and eventually deposit about 900 to 1,000 eggs in soil or litter. Adult males rarely attach to people, feed little, and therefore are unimportant as transmitters of disease organisms to humans or other animals.
LYME DISEASE MANIFESTATIONS For light-skinned persons, Lyme disease begins in up to 60 to 80% of patients as a slowly expanding, reddish rash known as erythema migrans 3 to 32 days after the bite of an infectious tick.
The rash, if present, may not easily be seen on dark-skinned patients. However, 50% or more of Lyme disease patients do not recall having been bitten by a tick. Attached nymphal ticks are particularly prone to be overlooked because of their smaller size and reduced feeding time as compared with adult female ticks.
The rash typically begins at the location the tick attached, and it may expand slowly to several inches in diameter before disappearing within 3 to 4 weeks. Antibiotic treatment hastens disappearance of the rash, which with treatment may vanish in about a week. Many victims experience fatigue, headache, fever, chills, and other flulike symptoms during the initial stage of illness.
Days to weeks later, a variety of other clinical manifestations may occur singly or in combination. These can involve the skin (multiple secondary rashes), musculoskeletal system (migratory pain in joints, tendons, muscles, or bones), neurologic system (severe headache, facial palsy, memory loss), lymphatic system, heart, eyes, liver, respiratory system, or kidneys.
Finally, untreated late (disseminated) Lyme disease normally begins months or years after infection, and may result in arthritic, neurologic, or further skin manifestations.
Protect Your Dog. Dogs are susceptible to Lyme disease and may develop arthritis or lameness, lethargy, loss of appetite, disease of the lymph nodes, or other clinical conditions after being infected. Other animals including cats, horses, and livestock can become infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, but rarely develop clinical signs.
Consult a veterinarian if you suspect that your dog has Lyme disease, or if you wish to consider protecting your dog(s) with one of the commercially available canine Lyme disease vaccines. Highly effective pesticide-impregnated tick collars also are available to protect dogs that are exposed to tick-infested environments.
Other Tick-Transmitted Diseases. Besides the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, various ticks in California occasionally transmit at least eight other microbial disease agents, such as those causing relapsing fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, or babesiosis.
Mounting evidence indicates that the western black-legged tick is the primary transmitter of the bacteria that cause another emerging disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, which sometimes is fatal.
Thus, if a tick is tested for presence of Borrelia burgdorferi and is found to be uninfected, the possibility still exists that it could have been infected with another disease agent. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site for more information on other tickborne diseases.
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While walking through one of our wooded areas around our acreage, I looked over and saw a lone star tick on my shoulder. I'm not saying that it "jumped" out of a tree....but it didn't have time to crawl all the way up my body either.
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