'No twisting and squeezing': An early start to tick season in late winter

Tick season in southwestern Ontario has started earlier than usual thanks to an unusually mild winter, according to naturalists and local health officials.

Sightings of ticks typically begin in late March or early April, but record-breaking warm weather conditions have brought the bugs out of winter hibernation weeks ahead of schedule.

“I was in Rondeau Park yesterday, just walking through the woods, and I came home and noticed [a tick] was on my leg,” recalled amateur naturalist Ken Bell.

Fortunately for Bell, the tick he discovered didn’t bite and wasn’t a black-legged tick, the species capable of carrying Lyme disease. Bell said it was the earliest he’d ever seen a tick at this time of year.

“Ticks definitely come out the moment it warms up,” Bell explained. “People need to get closer to nature but if people feel threatened because they might catch Lyme disease, obviously that's going to be a bit of a deterrent.”

He continued, “What we need is to increase biodiversity and we need natural habitats where that biodiversity creates a buffer so that there's not so many ticks.”

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) is reminding residents to be careful of ticks when spending time outside, suggesting it’s difficult to predict if there will be more ticks around this year compared others.

“Definitely mid March is quite early,” said WECHU Environmental Health Manager Elaine Bennett.

Bennett told CTV News their surveillance practices don’t typically start until late May, noting there have been no reported cases of ticks to the health unit this year so far.

“Last year, we had a total of 44 ticks that were found. Of that, 20 ticks has the infectious agent that causes Lyme disease,” said Bennett.

Bennett said, “It's very difficult to predict. But again, if everyone follows the best practices, making sure that they stay covered up, avoid those wooded areas, high grass and continue to wear DEET…protect yourselves.”

Some tips include:

• Wear long-sleeve clothing
• Avoid bushy areas
• Wear DEET, if the user’s age is over six months
• When you get home, check your kids, pets, and yourself for ticks
• If you find one, don't be afraid to remove it yourself. You can use a tick key or tweezers.Everything should be clean. Use alcohol swabs to clean it and make sure you get the full body of the tick. Don't wiggle and squeeze, because you want to get the head out as well as the body. You don't want any part left inside.

How can I have the tick identified?

The health unit no longer accepts ticks for identification or testing through the passive tick surveillance program.

If you are interested in having the tick identified, there is a free online service that uses a photograph of the tick to identify its type.

Bennett advised those who frequent high tick areas to check themselves and their pets after walks in wooded or high grass areas.

“You want to make sure that you take the whole tick out, no twisting and squeezing. If you have a pair of tweezers, pull the tick out gently, ensuring that you do have the head. We don't want ticks embedded in the body for longer than 24 hours, because there's a higher risk of exposure and we don't know if that particular tick identifies as a black-legged tick to cause Lyme disease that would be of concern.”

Bennett added, “So the risk of a tick being on the body shorter than 24 hours would be a lower risk of Lyme disease.”