Of all of Florida’s parasites, this one may be the most disgusting. Few things bring out such a feeling of disgust in me like a tick. Have you ever found a tick on your body? It’s the worst. You have to stay calm while it’s on you, and when they bite they bury their entire head into your flesh. Then you’ve got to grab a pair of tweezers and carefully pull them away from your skin. Not to mention, if you squeeze the wrong spot they vomit all of your now tainted blood back into your body. They’re awful. And if they get into your home, you may need to call the Brandon tick exterminator. That’s why today I’m going to go over a few species of tick and how to tell whether or not you have an infestation.
Lone Star Tick
The lone star is the most common tick you’ll find down in Florida. It’s easily recognizable, thanks to females having a light colored dot in the center of their back. These ticks carry and transmit ehrlichiosis and southern-tick associated rash illness. This is also known as STARI.
Brown Dog Tick
This is the tick you’re most likely to find biting your four-legged friends. The brown dog tick feeds mainly on your dogs and is usually found in areas where they frequent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently identified the brown dog tick as a vector for Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in the southwestern United States and along the Mexican border. Seeing one of these on my dog would have me running for the Brandon Tick Exterminator!
Black-Legged Tick
The black-legged tick is another common species of southern tick. You probably know it by the more common name, the deer tick. It’s known mostly as a carrier of Lyme disease. But you’ll also find these ticks carrying babesiosis and Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis.
How to tell if you have a tick infestation
So, now that you know the most common species you’ll find down here, we’ll go over infestation signs. Tick infestations can occur from a single tick entering into your home. They’ll ride into your house clinging to any spot on your body. You’ll mostly find them in the groin region, under your arms, inside your ear, or in your hair. The tick may then reproduce in your home. And ticks can lay their eggs in many different parts of your house. But, you’ll mostly find them laying eggs near baseboards, windows, and doors, furniture, or curtains.
During a tick infestation in your home, you might find a large number of ticks on yourself or on your pet. Since ticks require blood from people or animals to survive, they will attach themselves to you, your family members, or your pet. So what should you do if you find yourself constantly bitten by these horrible parasites?
Brandon Tick Exterminator
That’s right, you’ll have to call a professional. These are blood suckers, so just cleaning your house up won’t work as it may for something like an ant or roach infestation. And make sure to hire someone who uses a natural pest control formula, as chemical pesticides have recently had their safety called into question.
