Tick Season Tips

Tick season is among us and they are nasty this year. You can completely avoid ticks by staying inside but for most of us, that’s not realistic. If you’re more of an active outdoorsy person (gardening, camping, hiking, walking the dog), you’ll have to pay attention a little more than usual to make sure you don’t get bit. You also need to remember to protect your furry friends, too. Here are some things to remember:

Before you go outside:

Spray yourself and children with repellant. Be mindful of the child’s age and make sure it is safe to use repellant on them.

Protect your animals by using flea and tick treatments (collars, sprays, shampoos, medications, “top spot” treatments). You can also use animal safe repellant on them.

Wearing long, light colored clothing will help you spot any ticks.

Prevent ticks in your yard by treating your lawn with pet friendly tick treatment.

Once you’re outside:

Avoid tall grass when possible.

Check yourself, children, and pets every couple of hours for ticks.

reapply repellant if needed.

Once you’re indoors:

Check yourself, children, and pets – don’t forget to check your clothing, too.

Shower if you can.

What if a tick is attached?

Using tweezers, grasp the tick as close as possible to the skin and remove.

Here’s a more in-depth how-to.

Diseases carried by ticks:

• Anaplasmosis
• Babesiosis
• Ehrlichiosis
• Lyme disease
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Southern tick-associated rash illness
• Tick-borne relapsing fever
• Tularemia