Whether it is a warm and sunny day or a cool, cloudy one you can now expect to find some ticks outdoors, especially in edge habitats. The photo shows a tick I recently pulled off of my dog on an inch ruler. In western New York this is rarely a problem, and only a handful of sites have any ticks to be found. However, in places like Connecticut the population is robust, booming, and filled with diseases. Any time that you or your dog goes outdoors this spring, and throughout the year really, you should be mindful of ticks. The best way to protect yourself is to stay covered, change your clothes, check yourself from head to toe, and shower soon after being outdoors for prolonged periods. Look over all of your dog carefully because even if they have vaccines for diseases like Lyme or take medication to kill ticks they can still jump off your dog and onto you. Apart from that there are numerous diseases one may not expect or have a dog vaccinated against including Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, the Powassan virus, Borrelia miyamotoi, and many more. Finally, please try to educate everyone you can on these threats because while some can be readily treated there are still many patients who go undiagnosed for a prolonged period, making their condition considerably worse and treatment much more difficult. I did not mention cats in this post because, for this and several dozen more reasons, they should never go outdoors…ever! Please do not let this cause you undue stress or anxiety about being outdoors. Simply be aware of your surroundings, as always, and take some precautions. Statistically one would be much more likely to trip down their stairs leaving their home to go for a hike than ever be sickened by these diseases. Let us also try to remember how we can change our environment and restore what was lost in order to combat these ticks and their diseases.
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
