Taiga tick - an insect belonging to the order of arachnids. It has eight legs and a flat body. He has no visual organs, in space he is guided by the sense of touch and smell. This drawback and very small sizes (female - 4 mm, male even smaller - only 2.5 mm) do not prevent him from surviving quite successfully. He senses his prey at a distance of ten meters.
A tick is a very dangerous creature, it is a carrier of
tick-borne encephalitis and
Lyme disease. Until the middle of the 20th century, he lived only in Siberia, but gradually began to spread to the west. Now found throughout Russia.
It used to be that a taiga tick lives on tree branches and from there jumps on its victims. This opinion was formed due to the fact that it sticks mainly in the upper part of the body of humans and animals. But then it turned out that this was such a tactic. The tick is looking for places where it is more difficult to detect, and he lives in dense and tall grass or on the lower branches of shrubs. On small animals, this insect really falls over. And in humans, he falls to his feet and gradually moves up, looking for places where you can stick.
A taiga tick, photos illustrate this clearly, it is attached where the skin is the most delicate, which means it is easy to bite through. The person or animal does not feel the bite itself, since an enzyme with anesthetic effect is injected into the wound by an insect.
This is done in order not to be detected. Males are less dangerous than females. They stick in for a short time, do not go deep. Females, on the other hand, are very voracious, they can make themselves practically mink in the skin and stay there for several days, during which time increasing in size up to 10 times. When sucked, they fall off and lay eggs, one clutch totals up to two thousand pieces. Two weeks later, larvae hatch from it. To gain strength, they will use small animals, and then go into the soil. There, the taiga tick larva will transform into the so-called nymph. Having come to the surface, they again feed themselves and go for wintering.
The life cycle of the tick begins in April-May. They are very dangerous before laying eggs. In June, laying eggs, the bulk die, but especially tenacious remain and can survive until September. And in the fall, nymphs become active, who also want to make money.
If earlier the taiga tick lived only in dense forest thickets, now it can be found on pastures near settlements and in park zones. It turns out that almost every person is at risk, it is necessary to take precautions. At the dachas, you need to mow the grass not only inside the site, but also around it, so you will deprive the
tick of its habitat. Going into the forest, they put on dense fabric pants, narrowed to the bottom, boots, a jacket or a windbreaker with ties and a hood. Every 10-15 minutes you need to examine yourself. After the forest, do not enter the house in these clothes.
If the taiga tick still finds a loophole and sticks, do not panic. It can’t just be pulled out, the head with the proboscis will remain inside, then the infectious process is guaranteed to begin . You need to take a thread, throw it on the proboscis of the insect and tighten, so it loses food. Then it is easy to remove. The tick itself should be placed in a jar and taken to a laboratory to find out if it has been infected. Treat the wound itself with iodine. Next, you need to see a doctor and take preventive vaccinations. Remember, frivolity leads to disability for the rest of your life.