Hello again!
Our next edition of Safety First are the wonderful bugs we all deal with. We call them the little hitchhikers.
I wanted to focus on two bugs that are common, and dangerous if not dealt with properly. Ticks and Bee/Wasps
These two are the ones we deal with no matter where we go, whether it is camping, the cabin or mushroom hunting around the neighborhood.
Ticks are the tiny little bugs. The wood tick is the most dangerous, as they carry lyme disease. Ticks are second only the mosquitoes when it comes to disease. Last year two people died from tick related diseases in Minnesota. It isn't the tick bite itself that causes the illness, but the toxins present in the tick mouth.
Ticks are transferred from grass, branches and animals to humans. They do not fly, but can drop from a branch (trust me on this one...).
There are ways to prevent a tick from attaching to you.
- Wear long pants when on hikes
- Tuck your pants into your socks
- Wear bug spray that contains DEET
- Check yourself and your children frequently
Checking yourself and your children is the biggest thing you can do. When we are out and about, and know we have been in a "tick area", we do checks every two hours, from top to bottom. Ticks like warm areas; where clothes lay and in the folds of skin.
Removing ticks can be tricky, depending on how long it has been attached. The main thing you can remember is that you need to get it all, head to end. If the tick has not attached, you can simply remove the tick. You can then discard, we burn them to prevent them from attaching to another person.
If the head has bit in, do not force it out, that can dislodge the head or teeth. This can cause infection and much pain. If the tick has bit in, turn it in a circle, this will cause the internal teeth to dislodge. Clean the area very well, and bandage if their is broken skin.
Ticks are common all over the country. Take the precautions and you will never have a problem.
Links on Ticks:
Tick Info
Wikipedia
Star Tribune
Stay tuned for part 2!
1 comment:
Great information. I remember my mom stepping out of the car on the side of the road one time when I was little into a bunch of ticks...we stopped at some gas station bathroom all had to strip our clothes off and pick them off...yuck!!
Love your blog redo by the way:)
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