10 



:^IISC. PUBLICATION 



U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



animal until it drops off to die or to lay efr^s. So live ticks do not 

 pass from one cow or steer to ant)ther. 



How do the fever ticks carry tick fever from a sick animal to a 

 wt'll animals The tick that is sucking blootl from a sick animal <rets 

 tlic jreiins of this fever in the l)lood it eats. These fever «:erms stay 

 in the ticks body and iret into its e<rf;s. The jrerms in the e«r«j <ret 

 into the body of the baby tick before it hatches out. The baby 

 tick after it hatches out carries these «;erms with it when it «;ets on a 

 cow or steer or calf in search of blood. 



When the tick bores its well into the hide it lets some of these 

 frver jrerms «;et into the blood of the animal. These jjjerms spread 

 through the blootl of the cow or steer or calf and make it sick with 

 tick fever. 



Sometimes these jrcrms do not make the animal very sick. Such 

 animals do not die of fever. But in many cases the <;erms make 

 the cattle very sick and kill them. 



Thousands of cows and steers and calves are killed every year 

 in the South by this tick fever carried by ticks. 



TlieM' lil■k^, fouiiil (III <l<);:s and other uiiimals. do not Kive tick fever to cattk-. 

 A, American dog tick ; B, Gulf coast tick ; C. brown dog tick. (Enlarged) 



Many animals that do not die of the fever are weak and scrawny 

 and sickly for (he icst of (heii- lives. 



The fever and the loss of the blood that the ticks suck out weaken 

 many animals so that they can not stand winter storms. They die 

 of cxi)osure or starvation. Many of these would not die if the fever 

 ticks had not weakened them. 



Many cows are made .so weak by the fever and the less of the blood 

 the ticks suck that thev can not care for their imby calves in the 

 spring;. Many calves die at this sea.son. 



It is called ''sprinjj loss." and costs cattle raisers a lot of money. 



Cattle owners could save these losses by killin<r the fever ticks. 



AN ENEMY OF FINE CATTLE 



Cattle l)rou<jl it into the South from places where there are no fever 

 ticks «:et tick fever very easily and are almost sure to die from it. 

 This is why «rood. tick-free breeding animals can not be l)rou«rht to 

 a ticky farm tf) improve the breed of the cattle. The fever ticks are 

 ahnost sure to kill good milk cows, good bulls, or good beef cattle 



