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dimming decorative lighting and upper-floor office lights after hours. In a city like Houston— where many downtown buildings already participate— every light switched off becomes one less deadly trap for birds crossing our night skies.
In Texas, the call for“ lights out” begins March 1 and continues through June 15 for spring migration, then returns August 15 through November 30 in the fall, when billions of birds pass overhead. Think of it as bird rush hour— only instead of traffic jams on I-45, the skies above Texas are filled with warblers, thrushes, buntings, and other feathered friends trying to make their way safely south or north.
Texas’ s largest skylines— from Houston and Dallas to Austin and San Antonio— are proving that even big cities can make room in the night sky for migrating birds. If entire city skylines can go dark for birds, surely the rest of us can switch off a porch light.
Ticks in Dogs: What Every Pet Owner Should Know
By Malcom Weir, DVM, MSc, MPH; Ryan Llera, BSc, DVM; Ernes Ward, DVM
WHAT ARE TICKS?
Although ticks are commonly thought of as insects, they are actually arachnids similar to scorpions, spiders, and mites. All adult ticks have eight legs and have no antennae. Adult insects, by comparison, have six legs and one pair of antennae. Ticks are parasites that feed on the blood of their host, which can include pets and people.
Ticks are efficient carriers of disease because they attach firmly when sucking blood, feed slowly, and may go unnoticed for a considerable time while feeding. Ticks take several days to complete feeding.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TICKS?
There are two groups of ticks, sometimes called hard ticks and soft ticks. Hard ticks, like the common American dog tick, have a hard shield just behind the mouth parts( sometimes incorrectly called the head); unfed hard ticks are shaped like a flat seed. Soft ticks do not have the hard shield and they are shaped like a raisin. Soft ticks prefer to feed on birds or bats and are seldom found on dogs or cats.
WHAT IS THE TICK’ S LIFE CYCLE?
Ticks have four distinct life stages:
1. Egg 2. Six-legged larva 3. Eight-legged nymph 4. Adult
Females deposit from 3,000 to 6,000 eggs on the ground. Adult ticks seek host animals to feed on, and after engorgement on blood, they quickly mate. Male hard ticks usually die after mating with one or more females, although some may live for several months. Females die soon after laying their eggs in protected habitats on the ground. The life cycle requires from as little as 2 months to more than 2 years, depending on the species.
After the egg hatches, the tiny larva( sometimes called a seed tick) feeds on a host. The larva then develops( by shedding its skin, or“ molting”) into the larger nymph. The nymph feeds on a host and then molts into an even larger adult. Male and female adults feed and mate on the host; the female falls to the ground to lay her eggs, continuing the life cycle.
HOW DID MY DOG GET TICKS?
Ticks wait for host animals on the tips of grasses and shrubs. When a moving animal or person brushes the plant, the tick quickly lets go of the vegetation and climbs onto the host. This process is known as questing. Ticks can only crawl; they cannot jump or fly. Some species of ticks will crawl several feet toward
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