~ Ticks -{ & }- what to know...

BY DANNY McCARTHY

“HOME IMPROVEMENT” column titled “Tick Expert Brian Kelly on Keeping Your Family Safe This Fall” on page 218 in the September 1, 2023 DAN’s PAPERS. Here’s “my-take.”

My accepted-creative - unique-writing-style includes my use of CAPS as emphasis and to get-the-point-across... NOT ANGER {the usual CAPS text interpretation!}

BRIAN KELLY is the owner of the East End Tick & Mosquito Control –{ & }- Twin Forks Pest Control.

For this summer {this season so far}, folks at “the beach, farmers markets, the local nursery, or obviously, their own backyard…” … This summer “season has been a pretty rough year with the ticks.” In particular was the LONE STAR TICK as “the culprit this year” ~ “more than deer ticks.” LONE STAR TICK LARVAE “is right now emerging or hatching from their egg castings -{sometimes called chiggers} are really lone star tick larvae” ~ A whole patch is left by “these teeny, microscopic ticks that bite you {leaves you w/} lots of little red itchy bumps –{ & }- some people are coming down {w/} an alpha-gale meat allergy.” “meat byproducts {are-in, i.e.: vitamins, lipstick} and “so many different things… and just about everything we eat across the gamut.”

The adult deer ticks will be “coming out very soon… we’ll see fall.”

SPRAY FOR TICKS APRIL-THROUGH-NOVEMBER; KEEP YOUR YARD CLEAN {FREE OF LEAVES }.“Whenever the temperature is {ABOVE-FREEZING}, the ticks will be alive.”

WHEN OUTDOORS… USE A TICK REPELLENT. SPRAY YOUR SHOES, SOCKS -{ & }- PANTS.

“Ticks always work their way {FROM THE GROUND UP}” ~ NOT FROM TREES –{ & } “they don’t fly or hop. If you find one behind your ear, {the tick} crawled up your whole body {deciding} {that is} where it was going to feed.”

If the soccer ball during a SOCCER GAME “goes into the woods,” “it probably isn’t a good idea” that kids run-in “after it” ~ BRIAN KELLY recommended that “somebody puts on rubber boots{/}checks themselves after.”

BEACH GRASS {the long grass on the side of the road} ALSO is-involved.

LONE STAR TICKS “{crawl-through} the cracks of your deck.

If the kids are playing over at a friend’s house, check them when they come home. TRY TO LET YOUR KIDS ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES AND TO TEACH THEMSELVES TO CHECK FOR TICKS.

TO REMOVE A TICK… USE A SHARP PAIR OF TWEEZERS. GRAB THE TICK AS-CLOSE-TO-THE-SKIN AS POSSIBLE –{ & }- SLOWLY PULL. IT SHOULD POP RIGHT OUT. -YET- SOMETIMES THE HEAD WILL STICK IN THERE ~ BRIAN KELLY REMINDED US THAT THAT IS OKAY; “your body will get rid of that.”

THE THINGS THAT SEEM NOT TO WORK AT ALL NOWADAYS to remove a tick is “to use Vaseline on the tick {thinking it will} back its way out” ~ Or ~ using a lit match… NO! ~ as “the tick will regurgitate some of those spirochetes –{ & }- any of those organisms {that-are-in-your-body} into your system when you do that.”

DON’T WAIT TO SEE A DOCTOR, DO IT YOURSELF ~ BRIAN KELLY SAID.

BRIAN KELLY RECOMMENDED having one’s “blood-work done at the end of the summer {EVERY YEAR}.” Different things can be tested “{with} generic blood work.” ~ including “Alpha-gal…habesios, ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease”… ALL THESE TICK-BORNE DISEASES ARE TESTED W/ THE SAME BLOOD SAMPLE.

THANKFULLY BRIAN KELLY said: “I don’t want to scare you {as not} every tick is infected. ~ Not everybody who gets by tick gets sick.”

REMOVING TICKS THE RIGHT WAY/HAVING THE BITE TREATED IS IMPORTANT “so you don’t become one of those statistics.”

" If you or your child needs to speak to a specialist about tick-related health concerns, {Brian} Kelly recommends scheduling an appointment at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’ Regional Tick-Borne Disease Center, which he recently helped open at the Hampton Bays Atrium. To schedule an appointment, call 631-725-2112 for an adult, 631-444-5437 for a child, or access the help line at 631-726-8425 For more information, visit eastendtickresource.org "

Make an appointment at the only tick-borne disease clinic in the Northeast... When You're Worried About Tick Bites, Lyme of Any Tick-Borne Disease, You Want Expert Care. In addition to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital's Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center Helpline-that was established in 2014-their clinic is now open and dedicated to seeing adults and children w/ tick bites or suspected illness by appointment only.

The clinic offers: Expert tick removal, diagnosis{,} and treatment; a team of infectious disease specialists; convenient lab services/blood drawing; counseling on tick bite prevention, tick identification, free tick removal kits{.} and Tick-Borne Disease Reference Handbooks; potential opportunity to participate in research studies; acceptance of most insurances/self-pay available; AND convenient location in Hampton Bays at the Hampton Atrium.

Call for an appointment {Adults: (631) 725-2112} {Children (631) 444-KIDS (5437)

EAST END TICK & MOSQUITO CONTROL in Southold was established 1997. The powers that be say “WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR SAFETY” AND ADDS: “On the North Fork, home is where… the ticks are!”

APProximately 70 percent who contract Lyme Disease each year are bitten by ticks in their own yard? Cases of dangerous, even life-threatening tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis -{ & }- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever “have more than doubled in the last 15 years or so?” There could be “blood-sucking, disease-carrying ticks … hiding in tall grass or leaves in your yard?...” “What can you do to protect yourself and your family? Call us today. We provide the most effective, environmentally-responsible, year-round tick prevention program possible. Don’t gamble with your family’s health, call us today for a free estimate. Southold 631-765-9700 tickcontrol.com -{~}- Dan’s Papers BEST PEST CONTROL”

As referenced via ad in timesreviewnewspapers

SEPTEMBER 2023 northforker.com the food issue