How to Prevent Tick Bites

If you're heading outside, take these steps to prevent exposure to ticks and tick-borne disease

If you live in an area where ticks thrive, knowing how to prevent tick bites and what to do if one manages to latch on is a necessary preventative for safety outdoors. While ticks are creepy crawly parasites, they are essential to those ecosystems, so the best we can do is learn how to safely coexist when we enter their homes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data on ticks and tickborne illnesses show that cases of Lymes disease have been on the rise. With more news coverage surrounding Lymes disease as a potential outcome of exposure to ticks, many families and outdoor enthusiasts wonder what they can do to minimize the risks for them and, for most of them, their dogs.

The increase in deer ticks specifically is of concern for anyone that enjoys the outdoors, but hunters, specifically those that are active in the Spring and Fall. Even in more suburban areas, ticks have become widespread and are found across the United States. While deer don’t support the Lyme bacteria like other small hosts like rodents do, deer are the perfect vehicle for expansion. So, areas with large deer populations may see a larger expanse of ticks and potentially a wider spread of disease.

Find the full article written by Meg Carney here.