Tick habitat in nature

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

When gathering for vacations, the biggest problem remains the issue of protection against ticks. This is due to the fact that their bites can lead to irreversible changes in the human body, causing disability or, even worse, leading to death.

Of course, if you spend most of your time in nature, it is best to use special chemicals to control ticks on the site, processing around the entire perimeter. It is noteworthy that today they have become much safer for both humans and animals. Most often, you can find substances in the form of liquid and granules. It must be remembered that if you are not sure that you can properly process the site, it is better to entrust this procedure to professionals.

Attack of ticks usually begins in mid-spring and continues until the onset of the first cold weather. The beginning and end of the period of activity of ticks is very variable even within the same geographical point, however, they are most active from the end of May to June and from the endAugust to October.

Basic data

They are most active in hot weather. In the spring, when the air is not yet fully warmed up, these insects are lazier, and may not bite even if they get on clothes. By autumn, they become the most aggressive and stick right away

• Encephalitic tick - the habitat of individuals that are carriers of this disease is predominantly humid. Most often they can be found in moist deciduous forests and swampy areas. The carrier of encephalitis can be almost any tick that feeds on the blood of humans or animals. It is fixed on the open area of the skin in such a way that it is not so easy to notice. In addition to encephalitis, they carry a number of infectious diseases that are difficult to treat.
• The main habitats of ticks are dense deciduous forests, grass and shrubs. Ticks do not tolerate direct sunlight, so it is almost impossible to meet them in open areas.
• Most often, a tick bites in places where a person cannot visually detect it: in the neck, head or back. It is noteworthy that this bite is painless, as a result of which a person may not even be aware of it in order to take timely action.

Diseases carried by ticks

Ticks are one of the largest groups of arthropods on the planet. Most often they prefer to feed on young vegetation. There are a large number of different types of ticks in the world, most of themwhich is still poorly understood.

Some species have adapted to parasitize both animals and humans, feeding exclusively on blood. The habitat of ticks (Ixodoidea) includes all continents, up to Antarctica. They carry many pathogens, creating natural foci of infections. It is noteworthy that the most common of them is carried by the encephalitic tick. Its habitat is ubiquitous, since any tick, regardless of species, can be a carrier of encephalitis. Despite this, the taiga tick and Ixodes ricinus (which lives only in the European part of Eurasia) remain the main carriers of the disease.

Tick: habitat and lifestyle

Ticks usually live in the accumulation of dry branches and plant debris, where they arrange their nests. During the attack, they rise to a hill, preferring the tops of grasses and bushes, where, having strengthened their hind limbs and stretching their front ones forward, they wait for a suitable source of food. With their front paws, they are fixed on clothing, and then climb it until they find bare skin. Ticks prefer to hunt from a height of about 1 m, so that a person may not be afraid of attack from trees.

Bite prevention

Because the natural habitat of ticks is mostly moist deciduous forests and roadside areas overgrown with grass, the best way to avoid an attack and not get infected from a bite is to prevent it.

To do this:

• If you plan to be in nature for a long time, you need to wear clothes that cover the body as much as possible.
• After returning home, be sure to check yourself and loved ones.
• If a tick is found, try to remove it without crushing it.
• If the tick is still stuck in the skin, carefully remove it from the skin. The main thing to remember: you can not violate the integrity of his proboscis. After that, the wound is disinfected. If you are not sure that you can handle the removal of the tick without damaging its integrity, it is best to contact a specialist.

Treatment of the territory

The area where ticks live on the site includes all green spaces, the height of which does not exceed 1 m. That is why it is imperative to thoroughly treat the site with chemicals at least several times a year. This is due to the fact that tick activity changes several times during the summer.

Today, the treatment of dacha territory from ticks does not cause difficulties, it is enough to find a company engaged in professional cleaning of areas from pests.

Ixodid ticks

All ticks belonging to the Ixodes group are parasites. Their size directly depends on the degree of saturation, on average they reach a length of several centimeters. This is directly related to the fact that the integuments of the female body are highly extensible. In addition, they can eat extremely rarely (sometimes only once in a lifetime), but immediately consume a large amount of blood. With a massive attack of these ticks, a person may experiencedizziness and develop anemia. It is noteworthy that during the entire time of its development, the tick changes several hosts, on each of which it feeds no more than once.

The habitat of ticks includes plants that do not exceed 1 m in height. In addition, they can lie in wait for a future food source on shrubs and grass growing along the paths. Some species of ticks in the process of evolution have adapted to make active movements in order to find a permanent source of food, which makes it necessary to examine their body and clothes for an attack.

Dog tick

The dog tick, whose habitat includes the entire territory of Eurasia, mixed and deciduous forests and thickets, actively supports the preservation of natural foci of various viral diseases among rodents, which are its main carriers to humans and domestic animals.

The body of the tick is covered with an elastic cuticle and resembles a regular oval in its shape. The color of males and females during the fasting period is yellow-brown. As the female becomes saturated with blood, the color changes to bright red, increasing in size up to 12 mm.

Adhering to the host, the tick feeds on its blood for several days. As a result of its bite, complex allergic reactions can occur on the human body. When the bite site becomes infected, the body, trying to destroy the infection, can create purulent formations, which, if not properly treated, canlead to serious consequences.

Taiga tick

The habitat of ticks (Ixodes persulcatus) includes the taiga zones of Eurasia, the Far Eastern territories, Central Europe and the European part of Russia. It is the main carrier of tick-borne encephalitis, as it most often attacks people.

It parasitizes almost all animals, due to which the circulation of the encephalitis virus is constantly preserved in nature, the main natural reservoir of which are small rodents and birds. Of domestic animals, taiga ticks most often attack goats, which is directly related to the peculiarities of their behavior. Since they prefer to make their way through the bush in the process of feeding, their fur gets the most mites.

Despite the fact that goats themselves carry tick-borne encephalitis in a mild form, getting into the human body with milk, it progresses rapidly.

Spider mite

The spider mite, whose habitat is almost ubiquitous, prefers to eat both fruit and houseplants. In fact, this is a very small spider mite (body length is about 1 mm), which feeds on plant sap. The main sign of its presence on plants is the presence of cobwebs under the leaves.

Ticks: habitat, encroachment on humans

Encephalitic mites are distributed almost throughout the entire Eurasian territory. The habitat of ticks mainly includes moist forests with dense shrubs and grass cover. Many specimens live at the bottom of forest ravines, edges and banks of streams. The habitat of ticks and their distribution methods are very similar. It is very important to know that most of the ticks are concentrated on forest roads and paths overgrown with grass along the roadsides. In these places there are much more of them than in the forests themselves. Studies have shown that parasitic mites are primarily attracted to the smell of animals and people who constantly use these roads when moving in a forest area.

In order to avoid bites and infection with serious diseases, it should be remembered that the habitat of ticks in late April - early July is concentrated in humid forests, fallen leaves, ravines, grass and shrubs near rivers. When visiting this area, it is imperative to inspect the body and clothes for the detection and removal of pests.