Club Tread
Victoria BC
Club Tread
Victoria BC
Remember the Executive Meeting on Wednesday, May 14 at 7:00pm at Tom's - 1653 Dean Park RoadIf you've had that annoying experience of digging out an unwelcome visitor burrowing under your skin, you'll know what it's like to be REALLY TICKED OFF!!!
And to make matters trickier for us pioneering treaders - scientists say, these days, there are a whole bunch more of these critters waiting for you on your next hike into the bush. It seems that recent longer periods of wetter weather have caused a rapid increase in the tick population in BC.
Ticks are tiny insects that live in tall grass and wooded areas. If you don't already know the gory details - ticks can bite or burrow under your skin, draw blood and give you a number of diseases, including Lyme disease.
When a tick has burrowed deep into your skin, it is very hard to excavate it without leaving some major body parts behind, causing an infection.
SO - if you find a critter embedded in your skin: - after screaming in disgust, what to do you? According to the Ministry of Health, the best way to remove your unwelcome guest is to grasp it gently and pull, straight up and out, with a small pair of tweezers, and then disinfect the site with rubbing alcohol.
Some people (we won't mention any names) think you can remove a tick by covering it with grease, or gasoline, or torching it with a lit cigarette. This does NOT work! It only increases the chance of you getting an infection and accidentally setting yourself on fire.
And just when you wanted to trash the critter - wait - you're supposed to save it - alive if possible! (oh boy: company) - in a small plastic or glass container, for later inspection by your doctor or the BC Centre for Disease Control (if a fever develops, or the area around the bite appears to be infected).
The BC Centre for Disease Control says ticks have been found in the Gulf Islands on Bowen, Galiano, Quadra and Saltspring Islands and in Duncan, Metchosin, Langford, Campbell River and on Mount Finlayson and have likely spread to other parts of Vancouver Island.
The Centre says hikers can protect themselves by taking the following steps when in the bush: avoid long grasses, walk in the middle of a trail, wear long sleeves and pants, wear light colours and tuck in shirts and t-shirts.
For more info, call your local health unit, the Ministry of Health INFOline at (250) 952-1742 (or check out their web site at www.gov.bc.ca/hlth/) or call the BC Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver at (604) 660-6030.
With thanks to Kevin White