This is a picture of three ticks in a paper cup sealed in a plastic bag from 2018 when I found them on our black lab. They were all three camped out in a row on his back. They hadn’t embedded in his skin, they were just lined up ready for a feast. Surprisingly, I was able to see them in his dark hair. Taking our dog off leash out in the brush for a fun day – his absolute favorite – has its unfortunate risks.
That wasn’t our first encounter. Once I found one crawling on our 3rd child when she was in a stroller after a rainy day hike up behind Ladera. It was crawling up her pants.
Another time after a day outside for nature study, our oldest daughter and her friend started freaking out in the back of the van as I was driving home. Her friend saw a tick crawling in my daughter’s hair! I found a small tupperware and passed it back for them to contain it. We pulled over and destroyed it.
Another time, my husband found one in his hair the day after a hike. He felt something and pulled it out and put it on the kids’ high chair table for us to all look at. We were disgusted! He had even showered and washed his hair! But on the hike the day before, he was taking the kids into small natural hovels along the trail created by giant reed that had fallen over. The kids were scared to do it and, in classic daddy fashion, he challenged them to overcome their fears by promising to buy them a donut if they did. Thankfully, that episode passed too and the kids did get their donuts and have become very adventuresome and pretty fearless!
Once, that year when the State of California cut funding to State Parks and they didn’t cut the vegetation back on the trails, a group of us hiked Edna Spaulding, a single track trail in O’Neill and halfway through, noticed them on the kids. Everyone freaked out and ran the rest of the way down, to an open area and spent a good thirty minutes checking each other for them.
We’ve also seen many in Big Sur camping. It’s one of our all time favorite spots along the coast. We camped with a family who had a white lab and after hiking up to the Big Sur Taphouse, I noticed a few on their dog. I didn’t see any on our black lab, but most likely because of the color of his fur. I made sure everyone did a tick check and night and in the morning each day after our dog slept with us in the tent – yikes!
Last week, we had yet another encounter with a tick. Ugh! My oldest daughter and I went for a hike with the dog – it was such a beautiful day!
After the hike I did a visual check, brought him home and brushed him somewhat. One of my son’s friends spent the night on the couch with our dog and the next day, as we were heading out to the beach and they were putting their wetsuits on, I heard my son say “Wait a minute! What is that? MOOOOOOMMMM!!” A tick was embedded in his arm. UGGGGHHHH!!
I instantly reacted and grabbed it as close to the head and pulled it straight out. I got it all, whew! Then I accidentally dropped it on speckled concrete. I looked but couldn’t see it so I scoured the area and thankfully found it. I crushed it with my keys into a million and one pieces with a super-human intensity, then took my son’s friend by the arm where the bite was and applied disinfectant while I talked to the kids and told them not to worry, it looked like it had just barely embedded. I explained that lyme is very rare by us, that it has to be embedded for 24 hours, and that I’ve talked to a herpetologist up at Starr Ranch who said that Western Fence lizards are usually their first host and they have something that neutralizes lyme so it’s rare in our area.
I proceeded to remove every last blanket, sheet, and pillow that was on the couch and threw them in a plastic bag for laundry, I triple vacuumed the carpet and the couch like a madwoman, working up a sweat from the vigor necessary to contain such a horror, feeling the hair on the back of my neck rise with every black dot I spied, inspecting, hunting, eyes scouring – I found nothing else.
I visually checked each child, double checking every suspect mole, running my hands through their hair, checking their scalp, then sending them to the bathroom to check their privates and between their toes.
I rechecked and brushed the dog again. I looked up the kind of tick it was and read that it typically doesn’t carry lyme. Every tiny sensation I felt for at least a day after the incident felt suspect. I checked my arms and legs at random times throughout the day, checking my scalp, trying to avoid becoming neurotic over a tiny bug. Darned parasite!
I called my son’s friend’s mom right away and told her what had happened and where I thought it had come from. I told her what to lookout for – fever or a bullseye or any other rash at the site of the bite. I gave our dog flea and tick medicine. Thankfully, the episode has passed and everyone is okay.
But ugh!
They are just a reality we have to deal with and like sharks in the ocean and car accidents on the road, we do our part and leave the rest to God. At least that’s been our policy. Every family has to decide for themselves how they choose to deal with the dangers. Did I mention we have rattle snakes and mountain lions too?
There has been some encouraging news here and here, but it’s hard to know that there won’t be other problems that come along. Science is an ever-changing field. In the meantime ,here are some of our best defenses against ticks:
- Complete Avoidance of Nature. This just isn’t an option for us. We are such an active family and always have been. We love the outdoors and it’s part of our life. I do realize we live in an area where tick prevalence is lower and so is lyme which does make it easier. I don’t know how people do it in other areas. There are other tick borne diseases we have here as well, like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever so it’s still always a risk, but a calculated risk we choose to take.
- Take Preventative Measures. Some people spray with a tea-tree oil or some other herbal concoction, others will use full on chemical strength bug repellant. I think the more people you meet who have lyme and the more a person sees the very seriousness of the disease, the more willing they are to use strong repellents. Wearing white, or other light, solid colored clothing helps because it’s easier to spot bugs on. Patterns are the worst.
- Educate Yourself. Know what you’re dealing with – how to remove them properly, how to identify them, when to worry and when not to worry. Do your due diligence and educate yourself about them so you can make informed decisions. And, well, maybe don’t bring the dog, or if you have to, give him tick medicine, especially this time of year, and keep him out of the brush if you can. (What on earth did Ma do with Jack in those pioneer days?)
- Visual. Our eyes are our best defense against ticks. They hang off of vegetation with their inward facing claws so when you’re out and about, especially when rubbing up against brush or crawling through and under things, do a visual check on each other. It’s easier for someone else to get a clear view of your back. Brush things off and check your shoes too. I’ve seen them hanging on blades of grass along the trail before.
- Feel. Often the first way we come across a tick is by feeling something on our skin. Learn how to do a tick check and where to look.
- Check and re-check. It’s a good idea to visually check for ticks on you and the kids while you’re out hiking, then again before getting in the car, and then shower off after every hike so everyone can do a complete check. Wash and launder any clothes you wore.
- Save the tick and get it tested. If you do get bitten by a tick, you can have it tested for disease to give you peace of mind. Only two kinds of ticks carry lyme disease: black legged deer ticks and western black legged deer ticks. If your tick is one of these, you can send it in and have it tested here. There may be other places locally that test also.