Evening star., 1951-06-11

other more fortunate climes where
worried So here are some of the
out by the United States Departm
To begin with, if you live in
through grass or shrubs on your
way in and out of the building,
you don't have to worry. Grass,
weeds, shrubbery and vines are
tick heaven. So, if you have any
lof these in the vicinity of your
home, walk through them, or allow
your children to play in them,
you'll have to be on the alert for
the insects.
The ticks danger lies in the
possibility of its carrying the dread
human disease known as Rocky
Mountain spotted fever, and also
Itularemia rabbit fever), which
attack man. The ticks bite can
also be most irritating and annoy
ing, and, If scratched, may become
infected. The ticks attack dogs
in great numbers, occasionally
causing real illness, amounting TO
paralysis. From the pet dog the
tick easily progresses to the owner
or to the children who play with
the pup. Ticks may be carried by
animals into houses, and, in time,
present a real infestation prob
LEM. This is usually caused by the
brown dog tick, rather than the
American or common wood tick,
which is most apt to carry the
diseases mentioned.
| Rocky Mountain spotted fever
does not occur among the ticks IL,
every locality, but cases of the
disease have been found in the
| Washington area, believed to be
attributable to tick bites. Also, only
a small amount of ticks are in
fected, thus the chances against
their passing the fever along te
the host is relatively small. How
ever, because the chance DOES
exist, during the infestation pc
riod, which is now reaching its
height in this locality, it is wise
to make daily search for possible
unwanted guests" and dispose OF
them in thorough manner.
The American dog tick and its
cousins pass through four stages:
the egg, the seed tick. or larva;
the nymph. and the adult. The
brown eggs are laid in a dense
mass in protected spots on the
ground. and hatch into six legged
seed ticks. These attach them
selves to wild rodents, such. as
meadow mice. They fill themselves
with blood, then drop off and hide
until they molt their skins. The
resulting nymphs are larger than
the larva and have eight legs
These also attach themselves tc
small animals and engorge blood
In due time, these drop, molt and
become adult male and female
ticks. It is these fiat, brownish
insects that attach themselves to
house animals and thence to man
The males have a network of white
lines on their backs: the females
have a hard shield marked with
white on the forepart of the back,
The rear and finally the whole
body, becomes pinkiSh as blood
is ingested. When the female has
had her fill Of blood she drops
from the host. egg laying begins,
and the whole unpleasant cycle
starts over again.
AS the adult tick may lie in
wait for dogs and humans in un-
derbrush. grass and weeds, such
areas should be kept closely cut.
Dogs should be kept away from
these places: if this is not pos
sibie, they should be carefully in
spected and hand picked" each
day to remove any ticks adhering
to their coats. Use tweezers OF
1orceps rather than the fingers
and drop the ticks into con-
tainer of kerosene or burn them
There are special dips to be used
for dogs in really heavily infested
area. as well as sprays and dusts
for grounds or vegetation. As
these. for the most part, contain
poisonous material. they should
only be used by experts or on the
advice Of health authorities. De-
tailed information on this sub
ject may be obtained from the
Agricultural Research Administra.
ton. Bureau Of Entomology ano
Plant Quarantine, United States
Department of Agriculture.
The following precautions