Hitchhiking ticks aren’t fussy about whom they choose to feed upon

May has been designated Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and in Maine, that means ticks are ready to feed on any warm-blooded traveler they can sink their jaws into.
It’s important to take precautions now and throughout the summer and fall months to avoid tick bites. Use insect repellants, especially something DEET-free if that’s an option, preferably with a notation that ticks are one of its primary targets
Dog ticks in Maine (brown, no orange) do not carry Lyme disease, but they can transmit some other serious infections, according to the state’s maine.gov/lyme web site. Lyme disease symptoms can include a bulls-eye rash, fever, headache, joint and muscle pains and fatigue. Other possible infections are anaplasmosis and babesiosis. For more information, visit data.mainepublichealth.gov/tracking/ or email METracking@maine.gov.
Ticks can be notoriously hard to kill. Swatting or crushing doesn’t always get the job done. One method is to fill a cup partway with water and add a good squirt of dishwashing liquid. The increased viscosity makes it impossible for the ticks to climb out, which they surely can accomplish when in plain water. The ticks pictured here succumbed within minutes of placing them in the “vessel of Doom.”