A "Ticky" Situation

Posted: 5/11/2012 11:23:38 AM

As Rhode Islanders venture out to enjoy the first few days of pleasant weather in more than a week, at least one area scientist is warning people to look not up at the sky, but down at the ground. Ixodes scapularis – more commonly known as the deer tick – are out in abundance this year. "This is going to be a very bad year," Tony DeJesus of Big Blue Bug Solutions said on the WPRO Morning News With Tara Granahan and Andrew Gobeil. DeJesus warned that tick-counting scientists (yes, there is such a thing) have encountered higher number of ticks this year than in past few years.

"The tick drags are turning up lots and lots of ticks," DeJesus said, describing the method used to count the tick population: a white sheet is dragged through a wooded area; ticks climb on the sheet and are then counted. Scientists extrapolate from that count just how extensive the tick population will be.

So, just how extensive –will- it be? Substantial, says DeJesus, who warns it’s not just the numbers of ticks people should be concerned with, it’s the specific type. Deer ticks, he says, are out in force, "and that’s the one we have to be careful of because it carries lyme disease."

The best way to ensure those tiny arachnids – which hitch a ride on hosts passing by- don’t hitch a ride into a home is to thoroughly check each person or pet at home. In addition, DeJesus points out, recent studies at the University of Rhode Island have found that an application of insect repellent on shoes provides a barrier to the pests.

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