🕷️TICKS 2024

2024

2023



This map shows the risk areas in Ontario where black legged ticks are known to be established.  This report brings together the scientific literature and surveillance information on ticks of Ontario into a single source. 




To add insult to injury, the blackflies have been awful and are worse than a tick bite for me.


First one on Nutmeg, April 19th. 
Nutmeg brought in her second tick in two days. I took it off her, we put it into the jar with a cotton pad of rubbing alcohol. JB hustled into the vet's offices and we put some tick prevention goop on them.



Outdoors, it is tick season, again. We ordered goop, and applied it to cats in May. They have been sparse.
June 22 – JB had one.
July 23 – I had one. I did the long lawn!







UPDATES: Nov. 3 – On my neck, I felt it. JB taped it.
Nov. 2 – Out cutting up branches from the wind storm, I brought one in. It latched onto my arm, which itched and I removed it.  November is here!
Oct. 25 – Hooper brought two ticks in, they ended up on my lap blanket. 7:30 a.m.
Oct. 19 – Out for a walk around 11 a.m. I could feel one crawling on my neck.
Oct. 13 – Gave Annabelle Tick meds.
Oct. 8 – Sept. and Oct. the adults have appeared. 12:30 a.m. I checked Hooper, sleeping in the Muskoka Room. He had a large one, engorged on his neck, and another new one his neck. Gave him tick meds.
June 22nd – I'd watered the fountain, then sat on the back deck. I found a tick wandering on my arm.
June 16th – in his neck
June 6th - Hooper brought two in, one on him, one on me, as he snuggled.
June 5 – eye rim, nymph
May 31 - adult, alive, Hooper's neck
May 29th – One on Hooper's lip, dead.
May 28th – gave Hooper Bravecto
May 27th – Hooper came over to sit on my lap, having been sleeping on the couch. A few minutes later, an adult tick was crawling on my hand. I gave him some Bravecto.
May 25th – Hooper had another in his whiskers. Dead.
May 23rd –Hooper had his first tick. Embedded in his lower eyelid. Coincidentally, I spotted the first lily bugs. It's been cool, perhaps it has slowed them down.

Tick counts over the years



Spring Tick Counts are interesting.


Tick Count 2018: 72

These are all ticks plucked off of the cats. I pop  them into a jar with rubbing alcohol to kill them.
I took two off Hooper, and both had another tick feeding off it. Very weird. Hubby took one off of me Oct. 18th. Dead!

With a warm Nov. day...



Poor Val! "279 and that is our lowest, too, but think the 200 this month was our worst month ever..."

Monthly Tick count 2018



First tick
2014 13-Apr
2015 29-Apr
2016 1-Feb
2017 5-Apr
2018 26-Feb

2017 Tick Count: 





Val, Oct. 23
264 here now Over 100 more since we chatted about 2 weeks ago

Ticks are way down this year, 2017.

I've compared tick counts for May, June, and July,  as of July 19th. I think the heat of May slowed them down, they are on the rise in October, however. It's perfect May weather.

The same with a friend in Brooke, along highway #7. This is a good thing! Only 83 this year, compared to 191 last. Val had 435 last year, only 145 this. Pet Tick Tracker (uGuelph)


We did get a new product from the vet, which works for cats. This product just came out this spring. It seems to work really well.  

June 10th – took 4 dead ones off Daisy. It's called Bravecto. It doesn't prevent tick bites, but it kills fleas and ticks that have latched on. 

Daisy had 10 in one day!


Daisy is ahead (65%, vs. Dorah's 29%)!
 Hubby spotted one on Daisy, he grabbed a piece of tape, the tick burrowed into her fur, hiding from him. He persevered.

At a meeting, we were told that 80% of Murphys Point Park ticks have the Lyme disease bacterium.




Vet says concerns about Lyme disease in dogs 'overblown'

Dr. Ted Morris says preventing tick bites is more useful than vaccinating against Lyme disease

By Muriel Draaisma, CBC News Posted: Jul 11, 2017 11:30 AM ET Last Updated: Jul 11, 2017 2:12 PM ET
Morris said it's important for dog owners to keep in mind that 90 to 95 per cent of dogs that get infected with the Lyme disease bacterium from a tick bite do not get sick because they get rid of it on their own.


2016


Drought ticks off Lyme disease carrier


Incidents of Lyme Disease are down by 40% in southern Ontario (compared to the last 5 years), with the drought. Apparently, the nymphs are vulnerable to lack of moisture. Most Lyme Disease victims are reported during summer when the small nymphs are difficult to detect. Most of the ticks we've harvested have been nymphs.  They don't like extreme heat or sunlight, either. 


@jennjilks we are shocked at the number here We could hit 500 yet Never would have guessed they were that bad 2 neighbours with lyme +Tonka

— Val Baird (@ValBaird1) November 16, 2016

Ottawa Pubic Health
  • 2016: reported 51 cases
  • 2015: 71 cases

Lyme Disease Cases Reported by Public Health Ontario
  • 2015: recorded 919 cases
  • 2010: 143 cases
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox Addington Public health
  • reported 47 cases this year
  • 71 in 2015.
Leeds, Grenville, Lanark Public Health
  • reported 28 cases in 2016
  • down from 46 in 2015.

2016 Tick Count (Val had 435!)

  • Daisy   =     121
  • Dorah  =     54
  • Me        =      3
  • Annie   =      6
  • Hubby  =      1 
  • Buster  =       1 (RIP)


  • Sept. 26 – Chased a tick on Dorah for an hour. Got it! Piece of cellotape. Done. Two on Daisy. Annie earned only her third tick Oct. 4th. They are adults, now, and easily spotted on white cats!

    Mon., Sept. 26th: a gift. I looked down and there was an adult tick. Daisy had just visited me. I'm sure she brought it in. sigh.

    Thankfully, they've slowed down over the heat of the summer, picked back up in the cool of September. Daisy picked up 5 on September 3rd alone. She sits in the grasses and looks for mice friends.

    Past years

    It's going to be
    another bad tick year!
    They continue to mature and bite here up until first frost, November.

    Up to this point, most of them have been nymphs (8 legs), with a few adults. The larvae have 6 legs.  


    Canada Lyme publishes Lyme Disease Myths

    Canada’s Lyme testing methods are flawed. False negative test results are common, especially in the early stages of Lyme.





    They began, in 2016, in February. 


    1. I can't believe it! Daisy brought it in on February 1st. I found it crawling over my arm after I pet her.
    2. Forest walkies with Daisy, a large adult crawling on her face. April 2nd.
    3. April 14th, as we were at the vet with Buster, I noticed a heavily engorged adult on his neck.
    4. April 20, Daisy and I were walking looking for the owl. I could see it on her face.
    5. Later that night, Daisy was snuggling and I could see a tick nymph, embedded in her lower lip. Another on her face.
    6. I was out doing the lawn, long pants and sweatshirt pulled up to my elbows. Came back in and it was crawling on my arm.
    7. Daisy had a small one embedded in her face.
    8. Daisy had a teeny nymph on the outside of her ear. 
    9. I had one embedded in the back of my knee. Hurt like stink, itched for days.
    10. Dorah has a scar over her eye where she removed a tick.
    11. We took one off Dorah in the back deck.
    12. Daisy had two wandering around, one on her ear, one on her back. 
    13. Annie: on her eye, June 8th
    14. The twins continue to capture ticks, Annie doesn't often venture into the grasses, where the larvae are waiting for hosts. They have, for the most part, been larvae.
    15. June 14th was a big day. Dorah, sitting on the grassy knoll, captured 5 ticks, which I removed with great verbal protestations. I also removed one from hubby's arm
    16. Little beggars got me again! June 27th. I removed it early, before it was engorged. We pluck them off with tweezers, pop them onto a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. The larger adults are easier to find, the small nymphs are tiny specks. 



    Chronic Lyme
    Disease Foundation
    Lyme Disease Risk Areas in Ontario. This map illustrates areas that have been reported as a risk potential for Lyme Disease in 2015. These risk areas were determined by a 20 kilometer radius from the the center of a location where a "Black-legged" Tick was found through drag sampling. It is also important to note that black-legged ticks will also feed on and be transported by migratory birds, so there is a low probability of encountering a black-legged tick almost anywhere in Ontario.


    Credit: Map: CDC. Annotation: Katie Park/NPR


    Ticks everywhere from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

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