Camper warning others after being swarmed with ticks at Alberta provincial park

Gerri Kenneke says she, her husband, and their dogs were covered in dozens of ticks after a hike in Gooseberry Lake Provincial Park. CTV News Edmonton's Nicole

What started as a tranquil hike in an Alberta provincial park ended in what one camper called a horrific experience with a blood-sucking arachnid.

Gerri Kenneke said she was horrified to find herself, her husband and two dogs covered in ticks during a recent trip to Gooseberry Lake Provincial Park, which is 243 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

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It was a beautiful day in a beautiful place and Kenneke said the couple and their dogs took a walk. They didn’t notice anything was wrong until after they had returned to their camper to wind down.

“(My husband) said to me … ‘I think I feel something in my hair, is there something (stuck) in my hair?’ And I got up, and as I got closer to him, he looked at me and he said, ‘Oh, you’ve got something stuck on your cheek.

“I think it’s a tick.’”

The couple soon stripped down naked to begin the search for more. And more they found – in their hair, on their bodies, on the dogs and the furniture.

Kenneke said she felt violated by the experience and they decided to pack up and head home, where they continued to find unwelcome hitchhikers.

“In the end, we had between the two of us and two dogs, we caught at least 30 ticks,” she said.

“I, in a million years, never thought that this would be an experience I would have ever had in Canada,” she added. “I come from Africa, I am used to ticks all my life there, but this was never a concern I had here.”

Ticks are parasitic arachnids that fasten themselves to a host and feed on its blood.

In Alberta, native species can carry organisms that cause disease in people, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus and tularemia – though the health ministry reports cases of those diseases range from zero to three each year.

Entomologist and tick researcher Janet Sperling said, with climate change and more pets travelling, non-native ticks are increasingly coming into the province and extending the tick season.

While black-legged ticks, which carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, are not found here, she said they can find their way here as stowaways on migratory animals.

“Birds can drop the ticks, and that’s especially true of the Lyme disease ticks,” Sperling said.

“We don’t run into it all the time, but because it’s rare, people will often say it’s not here at all, and that’s not true.”

Sperling said she doesn’t want to see people scared or put off enjoying nature. Rather, she recommends people educate and prepare themselves ahead of time.

“I have a little handy dandy tick removal kit, and I know I would keep that with me,” she added. “I’m entering tick habitat, and it’s just like when we go to the mountains and we enter bear habitat.

“Instead of saying I won’t ever go, we say, ‘I’m going to go, but I’m going to be prepared.’”

Kenneke said she would like to see more signage in areas where there are known ticks.

When asked if it had received reports of ticks at Gooseberry Lake, the province said “Alberta is home to many species of ticks … including in provincial parks.”

It said Albertans can protect themselves from ticks by wearing bug spray, a hat, long-sleeved shirt, socks and long pants when visiting wooded or grassy areas.

When you return home or indoors, check your clothing and all over your body – including the groin, head and underarms.

If you do find a tick, grab it as close to the mouth as possible with fine-tipped tweezers and pull straight out. Don’t squeeze its body and don’t worry if part of the tick’s beak remains, as it will come out naturally in time.

Sperling said people should take note of the kind of tick they are bitten by and hold onto it if it is a black-legged tick or Dermacentor tick, so they can test it if they should become sick.

If you have been bitten by a tick, you can call 811 or visit the Government of Canada website for more information.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg