Meet the tick hunters checking Summerside parks for the tiny critters

The City of Summerside is on the search for ticks in some of its most popular parks and walking areas.

A crew from the Bedeque Bay Environmental Management Association (BBEMA) is doing "tick dragging" through long grass and brush, looking to get a better idea of tick populations throughout the city of Summerside.

• P.E.I. tick study points to risk of Lyme disease on the Island
• What to do when you're bitten by a tick: 7 steps

"People are starting to talk about it," said Kurt Hughes of BBEMA. "We want to get out with our pets in the parks and we don't want ticks to get on our pets and people are scared of the whole Lyme disease."

The crew wears white Tyvek suits and gloves, with duct tape to keep their pant legs sealed.

"Ticks will sense movement through the brush and will hop on anything they think might be an animal or way to get around," Hughes said.

Size of a poppy seed

They pick a 10 metre section through tall grasses or brush, take a photo and GPS point. The drag is a piece of white felt attached to a metal bar to weigh it down.

Their prey is tiny, about the size of a poppy seed. 

"The felt itself will resemble an animal's fur and we pick white because it's pretty easy to see a dark coloured tick in contrast," Hughes said. "We really want to make sure we're not missing anything if we do pick it up."

The tick dragging project was put together in response to concerns from residents in Summerside. 

"The public had approached us and the city because they were concerned there might be ticks in the area so we're just doing this as a precautionary, as kind of a public concern," Hughes said. 

The crew picked locations with woods, long grass and also, lots of dogs.

"You're going to find them in an area where there has either been wild animals and pets going through," Hughes said. "It's the most likely area so we like to check those first."

They have found 4 ticks so far, over 25 drags at 4 sites around the city. 

"We thought it might be a good idea, just to be proactive," said Trent Williams, park manager for the City of Summerside.

"There weren't a lot of complaints about them, it was just wanting to see what exactly our circumstance is."

Raise awareness

Williams says it's important for residents to know there are ticks in Summerside, even if the numbers are currently quite low.

"It's a great opportunity to create some awareness that there's the potential to pick up a tick on their pet or themselves," Williams said.

There will be more tick dragging in the fall.

"If there are complaints or it seems like it's on the rise, we'll continue with the tick dragging," Williams said.

The findings of the tick dragging will be shared by the city and BBEMA.

"I think it's very important to maintain a relationship with the public and show them that we are responding to their concerns," Hughes said.

"Any information we can add to get a better idea of the tick population in Atlantic Canada I think is going to be of benefit."

More P.E.I. news