Adams Pest Control

American Dog Ticks

American Dog Ticks are so named because they are only found in North America, and domestic dogs are the favorite host of the adults. Although not a structural pest, the dog tick is commonly found on dogs and readily attacks humans. They can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia, and also cause tick paralysis. It is found throughout the United States, except for the Rocky Mountains, and in Canada and Mexico.

Adults average about 3/16" long before engorging themselves with blood. They are usually brown with whitish to grayish markings and often with a silvery hue. The blood-engorged female drops off the host and seeks a sheltered place to lay her eggs. Over 14 to 32 days, she lays egg masses totalling 4,000 to 6,5000 eggs, and then dies. Unfed larvae actively crawl about seeking a host. They can survive for well over a year unfed. Larvae require about four days to become engorged, and then drop off the host to molt.

American dog ticks are the primary carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the eastern United States, which they transmit from small animals. This is a severe, acute, infectious disease of the small peripheral blood vessels. It is characterized by a rash which develops in two to five days, starting with the wrists and ankles, and then spreads over the body. Mortality in humans is 20% or more.

American dog ticks also transmit tularemia, which is transmitted from rabbits, meadow mice, ground squirrels, sheep, beavers, coyotes, and various game birds. Symptoms include chills and fever, prostration, an ulcer at the tick bit site, and tender, swollen lymph nodes.

In addition, American dog ticks can cause tick paralysis, when they attach on the back of the neck or at the base of the skull and feed for at least 5 to 6 days. paralytic symptoms usually start in the extremities and become evident as unsteadiness and loss of reflex actions. If the tick is not removed, death may result from respiratory failure; children are particularly susceptible.

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Adams Pest Control
(Little Rock Office)
12324 Stagecoach Road
Little Rock, Arkansas 72209
(501) 455-1065
(501) 778-7270
(501) 337-1472
(501) 623-3811
Toll Free: 1 (877) 232-6772