Nothing beats being outdoors and enjoying the summer weather with your loved ones. Unfortunately, bugs, especially ticks, are more active in the summer too. You’ll find ticks in areas between wooded and tall, grassy areas, such as lawns and gardens. They wait for potential hosts on the tips of grasses and shrubs and grab onto them when they pass by. Don’t worry, ticks can’t fly or jump!
Treating areas in your yard with tick pesticides can help reduce the amount of ticks. However, if you have health concerns around using chemicals, you can do other things to help avoid contact with ticks –
People usually don’t notice tick bites because ticks can produce small amounts of saliva with painkilling properties. This allows the tick to suck the blood slowly for several days, which means they can give as well as receive diseases.
To help keep from getting a tickborne illness, try to –
See your doctor right away if you have been bitten by a tick and experience any of these symptoms –
a fever at onset.
For more information about tick-related illnesses, visit cdc.gov/ticks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends AVOIDING remedies such as nail polish, petroleum jelly and heat to get the tick off.
The goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible, here’s how –