Our son came inside from hiking in the woods yesterday afternoon only to find a tick crawling on him. Tis the season for ticks, so let us shower daily with hot water and wear light colored clothing when we're in an environment that is prone to tick activity.

New Deadly Tick Disease Has Mass. Residents On Alert

Scientists have discovered a novel tick borne bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The bacteria was discovered in rabbit ticks in Maine. Since Maine is a New England state and borders Massachusetts, residents are on alert.

What do rabbit ticks look like?

• Size: Adults are about 1–2 mm long (unfed) but can swell to 5–6 mm when engorged with blood. Nymphs and larvae are smaller, under 1 mm.
• Color: Unfed adults are reddish-brown to dark brown. Engorged ticks appear grayish or bluish due to blood intake.
• Shape: Oval, flattened bodies with eight legs (six in larvae). Their mouthparts (capitulum) are visible from above, unlike some other ticks.
• Distinct Features: Short mouthparts compared to deer ticks. No white markings or "lone star" patterns like other species. Their small size and lack of ornate patterns make them less distinctive.

In a residential backyard in Maine, Project ITCH researchers from the  University of Massachusetts Amherst stumbled upon a surprise finding: rabbit ticks harboring a new type of bacteria related to a group of pathogens that can cause sometimes life-threatening spotted fever rickettsioses (SFR) infections in humans. The most common and deadly SFR is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which has a death rate of 20-30% if not treated promptly with the antibiotic doxycycline. -umass.edu

What should you do if you find a tick bite, or find a burrowed tick in you.

If bitten, remove ticks with tweezers within 24 hours to reduce infection risk. Monitor for rashes or flu-like symptoms for 30 days. Consult doctors for doxycycline (antibiotic) if symptoms appear.

Chickens eat Ticks

We live in a small town in western Massachusetts in the middle of the woods, so tick checks are a big part of our routine in the spring, summer, and fall months. It's a pain in the butt, but we've got to do it! We got chickens last year and one of the benefits of having chickens is that they eat ticks.

Will chickens completely solve your tick problem? No, but they sure help. You've got to let your chickens run around the area of concern, keeping them in the coupe all day and night won't help much.