April — About that annoying tick you have

Is there a joy greater than a sunny 60-degree day in April? Youre on a walk along the bluff line at the Pine Bend Bluffs SNA in Inver Grove Heights listening to the first eastern phoebe of the year and the next thing you know, youre involved in a full-blown frolic. You end up lying on your back looking up at the clear blue sky and dozing in the warm sun. No flies or mosquitoes to break the feeling of nirvana. Life is truly good. The faint tickle on your face is enough to bring you to the edge of consciousness. Your hand goes up and plucks a small crawly from your left cheek. You open your eyes to see what dares to interrupt your royal slumber — a wood tick. Once again, you miss the 45 minutes between snow melt and wood tick season.

Now that youre awake, its time to educate you about these little creatures. Wood ticks are arachnids and related to spiders and mites. The most common tick of the 13 species found here in Minnesota is the American Dog Tick. The female lays eggs (no surprise there), which hatch during the summer months. The cute little babes, or larvae, do not feed that first year but are darn hungry the following spring. After latching on to a passing mouse, vole, or shrew, they have a well-deserved blood meal and drop off. Now a nymph, the tick will have a second meal after which it develops into an adult, usually during late summer of the second year. The adults wait until the following spring to feed, after which the female lays her eggs and then dies. Such is the life of a tick.

Ticks do not climb trees and jump onto passing mammals. They climb grass and short shrubs and when something walks by, they use their front legs to grab on. It may take a while to find a juicy spot to bite. Some even excrete a cement-like substance that holds them in place while feeding.

Ticks should not keep you from visiting some of the wonderful natural areas along the Mississippi River. You should, however, check yourself for ticks when you get home. Lyme disease, potentially serious and a real threat here in Minnesota, is transmitted by deer or black-legged ticks. Use of insect repellents can be a very effective tick-deterrent.

To view some pictures of dog and deer ticks visit Known Vectors That Transmit Lyme Disease are Ticks at the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundations web site.

For information on Lyme disease, visit Learn about Lyme Disease at the Centers for Disease Controls web site.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 9:30am to 12:00pm
West River Parkway and 36th Street/44th Street, Minneapolis
Applications due Friday, May 3 by 5 p.m.
Virtual and in-person
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Hampton Woods Wildlife Management Area