368 TICKS 



Precautions against tick bites where serious diseases are likely 

 to result are of the greatest importance but very difficult. King, 

 while investigating spotted fever, spent a whole season in the 

 heart of the Bitter Root Valley in Montana where spotted fever 

 infection was most dangerous. He wore high-topped shoes and 

 cotton outer garments soaked in kerosene and had pieces of 

 khaki cloth soaked in kerosene sewed to the tops of his boots or 

 fastened by drawstrings higher up on his leg. A leg covering of 

 oil-proof material with crude oil applied on the outside would 

 be of benefit, according to King. In Abyssinia the attacks of 

 Ornithodorus savignyi are prevented by rubbing the feet with 

 turpentine. 



Means of control of tick pests vary considerably with the dif- 

 ferent species, depending on the hosts, their seasonal history, 

 their varying life histories and other factors. 



Most of the species of ticks which attack man are normally 

 parasitic on domestic animals, and therefore means of extermi- 

 nating ticks on the latter would tend to reduce the human pests. 



Ticks on domestic animals may be destroyed either by hand 

 treatment or by dipping, or by the elimination of ticks from 

 pastures by starvation. The cattle tick, Margaropus annulatus, 

 has been eliminated from many ranches by a skillful manoeuvering 

 of the cattle, driving them from field to field in such a way that 

 in the course of a number of months the ticks would all have 

 dropped and perished from starvation. Such a plan is not 

 feasible for many species since a variety of hosts ma}' be 

 utilized, and long periods of starvation can be endured without 

 injury. 



Dipping of infested animals is a good control method. An 

 arsenical dip has been found best adapted for destruction of 

 ticks on their hosts, a description of which, with methods of 

 preparing and using, is given in Farmers' Bulletin No. 378 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Hand treatment with arsenical dip by means of rags, mops or 

 sprays is sometimes found more practical. 



The systematic dipping of domestic animals in the spotted 

 fever districts of Montana for a period of three years has been 

 recommended by the U. S. Department of Agriculture for the 

 elimination of the spotted fever tick from these regions. In 

 this particular case supplemental means of control consist in the 



