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Tiny, annoying, tough: 10 fascinating facts about ticks
by Katja Fischer
Watch out for ticks! How to protect yourself and your children
28.4.2022
Translation: Megan Cornish
We all know that after a trip into the great outdoors, children’s bodies are covered in ticks. Read on to find out what you can do about it and which tick myths need to go.
I still remember coming home after Pentecost camp about 30 years ago – it always rained, and I mean really rained – with company. Because usually between 10 to 20 ticks had attached themselves to me. The little beasts had got their teeth into me from head to toe (and in between – I’ll spare you the details).
But hang on. The first thing that many people aren’t aware of when it comes to ticks is that they don’t bite; they sting. You can learn this and much more about ticks at «zecken-stich.ch» (website in German).
I’ll spare you a page-long essay on ticks. Primarily, I want to show you how you can protect yourself and your children from them. But you still need a little basic knowledge about the parasites – for example, why it’s important to protect yourself from these beasts.
Ticks’ habitats are long grass, the edges of forests, forest paths and forest clearings. However, they’re also found in gardens, especially those near forests, because they’re spread by hosts such as mice or deer. Ticks love temperatures between 14 and 23 degrees and high humidity, so climate change means that the parasites can be found practically all year round in Switzerland.
Once ticks have chosen a victim and found the ideal puncture site, they cut open the skin with their mouthparts and prick the tissue with their proboscis. Then they start sucking blood in order to grow. They prefer to do this in areas where the skin is thin and there’s a good blood supply. The parasites are also commonly found on children’s heads.
Two diseases, only one vaccine
So far, so good. But why is it so important to remove ticks as quickly as possible once you find them? Because they can transmit unpleasant diseases, including tick-borne encephalitis, a severe form of meningitis that can even be fatal in the worst case scenario. But at least there’s a vaccine – also for children. You need a booster every 10 years.
The crucial question: twist or pull?
Are there any particularly dangerous regions in Switzerland?
5 tips to protect yourself against ticks
Enough of tedious theory. After all, you mostly want to know how you can protect yourself and especially your children from tick stings. The simple and obvious tip is not an option: not going outside into nature. Nevertheless, you can still minimise the risk of a tick sting or subsequent illness by:
1. Avoiding tall grass and undergrowth
Whether you’re out in nature or not, it’s best to avoid tall grass and undergrowth. It’s another misconception that ticks stay on trees and then fall onto their victims. They actually wait in the grass or undergrowth and can be wiped off as the victim walks past.
2. Wearing long, closed clothes
The be-all and end-all of tick risk control is clothing. Wear long trousers and a long-sleeved shirt and tuck your trousers into your socks like a cyclist (which has definitely come back into fashion). Light-coloured clothing is also an advantage because then you can spot ticks before they can sting you or your children. Because ticks like to settle on your head, it’s also advisable to wear a hat or cap.
3. Using tick repellent
Let’s face it: you don’t want to wander around in long, closed clothing all summer, and your children certainly don’t either. This makes tick repellent a good idea. It also makes sense to spray not only your skin, but also your clothing. Or you can use the Tickless Kid tick repellent. It works with ultrasonic pulses that are imperceptible to humans and pets, but keep ticks away within a range of 1.5 metres.
4. Freezing the ticks?
But what do you do once the tick has been removed? If you want to be absolutely sure that the parasite will die, it’s not enough just to flush it down the toilet. A tick can actually survive that kind of wet roller coaster ride. If you want to be absolutely sure, crush it, cut off its head or burn it, like we did this morning after we removed a seemingly full tick from our cat.
Incidentally, there are also people who freeze the tick once removed. The reason: if symptoms become noticeable a few days later, a doctor can examine the tick and potentially determine whether it was a Lyme disease carrier.
5. Carefully checking everything when you get home
The best time to check yourself and especially your children for the little beasts everywhere – and I mean everywhere – is straight after you’ve come home and had a shower. The unwelcome guests seek out places where it’s warm and humid, so under the armpits, in the groin area, in the back of the knees, on the neck and behind the ears.
And what about our beloved pets?
Well, if I had known that 30 years ago at Pentecost camp, I still wouldn’t have roamed the forest with my hat on because it would have been extremely embarrassing. But maybe I would have actually applied tick spray a little more often.
Martin Rupf
Senior Editor
martin.rupf@digitecgalaxus.chHalf-Danish dad of two and third child of the family, mushroom picker, angler, dedicated public viewer and world champion of putting my foot in it.
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