A lone star tick
It may be mid-summer, but the risk of tick bites and tick borne diseases is still among us. Here are some links to educate yourself against any potential problems.
- Track Ticks in Illinois Using Interactive Map as Season Begins
- Tick activity is growing in Illinois as multiple species converge on the state: ‘Every year is a bad tick year’
- Ticks in Illinois
- Health Risks of Tick Bites
- Guide to Avoiding Ticks in Illinois
- Common Ticks in Illinois
It's been warm and late spring/early summer is the peak of tick season. With the nice weather, you will probably be spending more time outside looking for fossils, minerals, etc. in the woods, fields, and quarries. Or at least, that's what we hope... after all, this is the ESCONI website. One creature you may encounter is a tick. Ticks are arthropods, that unfortunately are vectors for a number of serious diseases. In Illinois, American Dog (Wood), Brown Dog, Lone Star, and Deer ticks are some of the more common species in Illinois.
Get a tick removal tool. Here's the one I've used.
Another nice kit for removing ticks.
Here are some resources to learn more about avoiding ticks, treating bites, and getting medical attention if you get do come down with any disease symptoms.
- Ologies Podcast with Alie Ward has a great episode on Ticks. BTW, it's a great podcast to learn more about any type of science.
- There's an app to help you avoid ticks!
- VOX has an interesting post about why there isn't a Lyme Disease vaccine. Spoiler, there is! Unfortunately, anti-vaccine sentiment has led to it being pulled from the market.
- The University of Rhode Island runs the TickEncounters.com website with great information about all things tick! Check out their blog Tick Notes.
- Camping Cooks has an excellent guide on Lyme Disease.
- LymeDisease.org is another great resource.