Who doesn’t look forward to the warm weather season? As the temperatures start rising and the landscape around us springs into life, so do the creepy crawlers.

Arachnid [uh-rak-nid]:  Any wingless, carnivorous arthropod of the class Arachnida, including spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and daddy-longlegs, having a body divided into two parts, the cephalothorax, and the abdomen and having eight appendages and no antennae. (Dictonary.com)

Ticks and insects are not the same. Ticks are like little walking bags of pathogens or to put it into more scientific terms, are little eight-legged parasitic arachnids that feed off the blood of a host. A host can include amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and of course, humans.

It is important to know the difference between an insect and an arachnid because regular insect repellents and insecticides do not work on arachnids.

Ticks will often start appearing in May but they have been known to show up as early as April.  As soon as the weather hits plus 4 degrees, they can be found moving around in large areas by attaching themselves to migrating birds.

As mentioned, ticks tend to be more active in the spring and fall and depending on the host and weather, they can be around all year long (Moose).

The most common ticks found in Saskatchewan, like the American Dog tick, Rocky Mountain ticks and Winter ticks, do not carry Lyme disease.  They range in size from a poppy seed to the size of a grape, when fully engorged from feeding on blood. The bad news is that these ticks do carry other diseases.

One such Lyme-carrying tick known as the Black Legged tick is very rarely seen in Saskatchewan; however, they have been found here and there have been some reported cases of Lyme disease in the province.

Ticks do not leap or fly, as commonly believed.  They move by crawling and running.  One of the most popular spots to find ticks is in the tall grass and brush.

Ticks can smell people approaching as they walk through the tall grass. Ticks will release their hold on the grass and grab onto the host.  Part of the reason people seem to be on their radar is that on warm days when walking or hiking, people are hot, sweaty and exhaling plenty of carbon dioxide.

Once the tick has grabbed onto the host, it searches for the best place to attach and bites the host.  If there is any good news here, its that it takes between 10 minutes and two hours for the tick to attach itself.  Disease transmission occurs six to eight hours but often, it is about 24 hours.

The best advice to avoid ticks is to stay away from tall grass and shrubs. The key methods to deter ticks from sticking to its human host, according to Health Canada, is to follow these steps;

  • Tuck your pant legs into your socks. If you want to be extra cautious, use duct tape to seal it closed
  • Wear light-colored clothing and a hat
  • Use a higher concentration of DEET

The most critical and last line of defense against ticks is to do a physical check. It is recommended to do tick checks throughout the day when outdoors.

The most common places ticks try to grab on to is the neck area, back or sneaking down a shirt.  At this point, simply flick them off.

For a more thorough tick check;

  • Carefully remove your gear and clothing
  • Comb out your hair, check behind ears, armpits, between toes, bellybutton and other personal areas.

Before getting rid of ticks, it is important to know that ticks can survive the freezer, submersion and can live a long time without feeding.

Do not grab the largest part of the body as this will squish the contents of the tick into the wound.

Do not force it back out by using vaseline, nail polish remover, matches, and so on.  This will only cause the tick to regurgitate bacteria and disease into the wound.

Do use a fine-tooth tweezer, grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible and firmly pull it up and out.  Watch for any symptoms or illness and seek medical attention immediately if illness persists. 

Regarding the safety of pets, various products can be used from oil, a collar and chewable pills.  It is best to ask your veterinarian what the best product is to use on your pet.

While ticks are a part of Saskatchewan's outdoor life, it shouldn’t deter people from enjoying the outside. Health Canada recommends people be prepared for tick season.