Finding a tick usually involves a squeamish self-examination – carefully rubbing fingertips through the scalp, meticulously scanning the body, and groaning “eyeww” if a little bloodsucker is discovered.
Now, there’s a new way to find the pesky, disease-laden critters–via satellite!
University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate students Nathan Renneboog and Stephen Firsing are pioneering the new technique as part of a NASA program called DEVELOP. They’ve been using satellite images of Alabama’s Talladega National Forest to reveal areas of the forest where ticks likely flourish.
Knowing tick whereabouts is important. Ticks can deliver some very unwelcome visitors into your bloodstream: the toxins and organisms that cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness, and Lyme Disease.
“Our goal was to identify high-risk zones for these diseases,” explains Renneboog. “We know that ticks prefer moist, heavily vegetated areas, so we wanted to map those areas.”
Tick hosts include white-tailed deer, white-footed mice, and you. Lurking like mini-vampires, ticks wait for one of these unsuspecting passersby on whom to feast. Without blood meals, ticks die. Some ticks’ saliva contains a blood thinner to make it easier for them to feed. The saliva may also contain neurotoxins that keep you from feeling pain as the tick digs its barbed mouth into your skin and enjoys a meal at your expense.
As part of their DEVELOP project, Renneboog and Firsing do outreach work, presenting their findings at conferences and talking to the public. This summer, for instance, they’ll work with Girl Scout Troops.
“We’ll teach them to use repellents, wear long pants, tuck in their shirt, and wear socks when they go into the woods,” says Renneboog.
“And we’ll teach them how to properly remove a tick if it latches onto them,” adds Firsing. “You need to use tweezers. If you try to pinch the tick’s body with your finger tips and pull the tick off, you’ll squeeze it, and the tick will regurgitate the contents of its gut into your bloodstream.”
Eyeww!
“That’s how they infect you,” he says.
Bring on the satellites.
SOURCE: NASA — Seriously, NASA!
Linda
1 year ago
Ok guys – my sister is an expert on this subject. She can't walk close to trees or bushes without getting a tick on her! She's a tick magnet! No kidding. The BEST way to remove it is to pour liquid soap on it. It backs right out on it's own, and dies.
She told me the tick bite includes an anesthic property – so it really doesn't hurt – but the disease they carry is scarry! KILL THEM BUGS! ALL OF THEM! L
Brooke
1 year ago
That is absolutely not the way to remove them. Doing so causes stress and the tick then regurgitates the contents of its stomach into your blood stream and transferring the disease. The only way to properly remove a tick is to pull it out with tweezer by the base of its head.
Linda
1 year ago
Brooke – my sis has had 14 ticks and that's what her doctor recommended – it's always worked without any problems. He said the tweezer method is too unreliable because they can disengage their heads and the heads keep on 'ticking' – sorry, couldn't help myself. Whatever – I'm just happy I never have had one on me. We had a dog that got one on her – and we did the hot match head thing – it backed right out. Problem with that is dog has to hold still. Linda