Got ticks? We sure hope not.
Ticks suck blood and can transmit diseases to their hosts. They’re sneaky little critters that go “questing” — that’s the technical term — for cool, shady places to hide and ambush passersby. Bushes and blades of grass fit that bill nicely.
It’s a myth that ticks hop onto their hosts. What they do is wave their little legs around, hoping to latch onto a person or animal that’s brushing by. They frequently climb up clothing and attach themselves to bare flesh on necks, arms and legs.
Ticks used to be more common in the eastern United States than here in the West, but that’s been changing in recent years. Different kinds of ticks are on the rise just about everywhere in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Today, Clark County nature lovers who escape into the Columbia River Gorge, the Olympic National Forest or even their own backyards in Western Washington may encounter ticks. There are four types of ticks commonly found in Washington, according to the Washington State Department of Health, and all are worth avoiding.
Now, a partnership project between public health researchers and Washington hikers aims to track the extent of the tick problem in Washington.
Many dedicated hikers are also trail-condition reporters who post their findings on websites like the one maintained by the nonprofit Washington Trails Association. Muddy pathways, downed trees and snake sightings are frequent topics — and so are alerts about ticks, especially in springtime.
“TICKS TICKS TICKS,” a visitor to the Gorge’s Lyle Cherry Orchard trail wrote on March 25. “I flicked no less than 20 of them off my pup. Removed a handful more on the way home.”
Website posts like that gave Alex Eisen an idea. Eisen, who is studying infectious disease as she works toward a master’s degree from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, approached the Washington Trails Association to propose searching its trip-report data to analyze the growth and distribution of ticks across the state. This could also help determine whether there’s any correlation between recovering wildfire sites and tick habitat.
“The first thing to grow back after a wildfire is often brushy or light woody vegetation, which are prime environments for ticks,” the Washington Trails Association said in a statement.
Sifting the word “tick” out of more than a quarter-million individual trail reports required writing computer code, Eisen told the association. After that, Eisen still had to read nearly 1,000 reports to make sure “tick” referred to a tick sighting and not an all-clear, like “no ticks.”
Eisen was able to confirm just 589 tick encounters reported since 1993. That’s a surprisingly low number, Washington Trails Association spokesperson Anna Roth said, and it underlines the need for more data. The Washington Department of Health has been tracking tick data — including identifying tick bodies that are sent in to its lab — since 2011. Ongoing reports from the association bolster that data.
Despite small numbers, some meaningful trends have turned up.
“Tick habitat … is spreading,” according to the Washington Trails Association statement. “Ticks have been spotted in more parts of Washington in recent years.”
Those parts include the Olympic Peninsula, the Yelm-Tenino area and a highland known as the Issaquah Alps.
According to the Washington State Department of Health’s Tick Dashboard, the number of ticks reported in different counties in Washington remains in the single digits each year. In 2023, the most reported were five in King County. There were four in Klickitat County and just two in Clark County.
Changes in climate, precipitation and habitat for ticks and their host animals may drive the spread of ticks and tick-borne diseases, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
Report, avoid them
What are the four kinds of ticks you’re likely to encounter in Washington?
- Western black-legged ticks, which can cause Lyme disease — a serious, chronic and potentially debilitating condition. Found mainly in Western Washington and the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Similar but not identical to the East Coast “deer tick.”
- Western dog ticks, which can cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever. A new species of this tick — a relative of the one found mostly in the East — has been found in Eastern Washington, Idaho, Eastern Oregon and Northern California. They are common dog pests but can latch onto humans, too.
- Rocky Mountain wood ticks, which can cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia and paralysis.
- “Soft” ticks — with a squishier, fuzzier appearance than typical hard-shelled ticks — which can cause tick-borne relapsing fever, causing symptoms like high fever and chills, headaches, and muscle and joint aches. These symptoms can cycle for weeks unless the disease is treated.
Hikers are encouraged to report their tick encounters at www.wta.org/go-outside/post-trip-reports. Everyone is encouraged to report their tick encounters to the Washington State Department of Health at www.doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/pests/ticks.
“Reports from hikers help us at DOH understand tick distribution in Washington and get the message out,” said Dr. Hanna Oltean, senior epidemiologist at the state health department.
Meanwhile, here are ways to avoid ticks from the state health department.
- Know where ticks live. When hiking, walk in the center of trails, particularly in spring and summer when ticks feed. Avoid brushing the vegetation.
- Wear appropriate clothing: light-colored, tightly woven long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots, and shirts into pants. This helps keep ticks on the outside of your clothing, where you can spot them easily.
- Use tick repellent, carefully following instructions. Treat your clothing and footwear before your hike.
- After your hike, check clothing, gear and pets. Ticks are clever hitchhikers that can ride on clothing or pets, then attach to you later. Examine coats, camping gear, daypacks and dogs.
- Shower within two hours of being outdoors. This may reduce your risk of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Showering can wash off unattached ticks and is a good opportunity to do a tick check.
- Check your body and your child’s body thoroughly for ticks: hair, head, neck, ears, underarms, belly button, waist, between the legs, behind the knees. Before they start feeding, ticks are so small, they can look like a new freckle or speck of dirt. If you’ve returned from an area with ticks, keep checking for two or three days.
