Learn about ticks

A very common mis-understanding about ticks comes from the names people call them. At each stage of a tick’s life they look very different and their size changes immensely, which is why they have so many different names. Where people encounter ticks also leads to names like “Scrub Tick”, “Wattle Tick” or “Lantana Tick”. Newly hatched paralysis ticks that attach to your skin will often be called “Grass Ticks” or “Seed Ticks”. Once ticks move into their adult phase they may be called “Bush Ticks” or “Hardback Ticks” and once they engorge themselves on blood, in preparation for their egg laying phase and grow into the ugly, swollen ticks you dread most, they may be called “Shellback Ticks”, “Bottle Ticks” or “Dog Ticks” (even though, correctly, Dog Ticks are another unique species).

So, be aware, that although there are around 75 species of tick in Australia, the majority of ticks found up and down the East Coast, including Sydney, are Australian Paralysis Ticks. Don’t be mis-led by anything else you hear – we know of one recent case where a northern Sydney veterinary surgeon told a client not to worry about the many small ticks on her dog as they were just “Grass Ticks”. There is no such species of tick and they were, in fact, juvenile paralysis ticks. And TickSafe can rid your garden of them.

But allergy is only one part of it. Paralysis ticks ALSO spread diseases including Australian Tick Typhus a.k.a. Spotted Fever which is a form of Rickettsial bacterial infection. Another disease very similar to Lyme disease is also recognised. This can have debilitating health effects lasting for years with symptoms ranging from fevers, fatigue, sore throat and headache through to severe joint pain, meningitis, Bell’s palsy and heart complications.

The most recently identified tick illness is Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA). This happens when ticks transfer a carbohydrate called alpha-gal from a non-human mammal’s blood into a human’s bloodstream as it moves from one “host” to another. This carbohydrate is foreign to human bodies and in some people antibodies are produced that can provoke a violent anaphylactic reaction when that person subsequently eats any type of red meat, all of which naturally contain alpha-gal – which the body now identifies as a toxic substance.

This reaction to eating red meat may not happen for months after the infected tick bite and then may be delayed for several hours after the meat is eaten. A neighbour of one of TickSafe’s founders had to be rushed to hospital and put on life support spending three days in intensive care before she recovered from her first bout of MMA. Worst of all, an affected person can never eat red meat again, and in some cases dairy products, as the same reaction is probable every time.

For pet owners bites from ticks are a serious and very expensive worry. Dogs are especially vulnerable, with many dying from tick bites in Australia every year. Your dog can’t tell you when they have an itchy spot once a tick starts biting them and even if you often check your dog’s coat it can be very hard to find ticks. If an adult tick has attached itself to your dog and is not removed it would normally feed on your pet’s blood for at least 6 days. By the fourth day of a tick bite, most dogs will start to lose muscle control which, untreated, rapidly leads to paralysis and death. Vets can help in many, but not all, cases. At TickSafe we have first hand reports from our clients of vet bills following tick bites on dogs ranging from $4000.00 up to $15,500.00. And it’s not just dogs that can be affected. Cats, rabbits, backyard chickens, Guinea pigs along with horses, goats, lambs and ponies are at risk. A study published by the Australian Veterinary Association reports cases of large horses that were paralysed and unable to stand up following bites from a single tick.

Dogs and cats along with rats, mice, rabbits, foxes, chickens plus horses, cattle, sheep and goats are other hosts that ticks will attack. Not to mention us humans! When ticks are feeding on a host’s blood they stay firmly attached for between 4 and 10 days and travel wherever that animal goes. Once they have finished feeding they drop onto the ground where they either moult their skin to grow a new one, or if they’re mature, to lay their eggs.

So, a sure way that ticks arrive in your garden is on board another animal. Bandicoots are the most common animal to carry large numbers of ticks, one study showed a single bandicoot carried more than two thousand juvenile ticks over one season! Bandicoot numbers have risen dramatically across urban areas of Sydney over recent years, with tick numbers doing the same. But remember, wandering cats and dogs, possums, birds and even people can also carry ticks into your garden and once they get established their numbers soar. Windy weather will also spread ticks, especially the very small juveniles. If you buy garden products including plants, soil, turf and mulch then ticks might be on board. Gardening equipment used by people who work in your garden may also catch ticks and their eggs allowing them to be carried from one customer’s garden to the next.

Left undisturbed on your skin a Paralysis Tick would suck blood and feed for between 4 and 10 days depending on which part of the life cycle it’s at. The adult female is the most dangerous Paralysis Tick, steadily injecting toxin while feeding on blood before dropping off to lay thousands of eggs.

Some people call ticks at this stage of their life cycle “Bush Ticks” or “Shell Back Ticks” as they are large, hardened and shiny. The largest females can reach 13mm long once fully engorged on blood and starting to produce eggs. It is important to remember that whatever size they’re at, or name they’re called, if you have ticks in your garden and you’re within 20km of the coast then they are most likely the Paralysis Tick Ixodes Holocyclus and must be treated with extreme caution.