The outdoor season is coming, a time to be camping, hiking, mountain biking, an a host of other activities in Mother Nature’s backyard. It is also the time when we are likely to come across deer ticks, the carriers of Lyme Disease, discovering one on our clothes or our skin.
The CDC estimates the number of cases in the US to be about 300,000 cases a year. May is Lyme Disease Awareness month, when we outdoor enthusiasts should learn about deer ticks and Lyme disease to keep ourselves protected during the Spring and Summer months.
Helpful tips about deer ticks
- Ticks crawl up. They don’t jump, fly, or drop from trees onto your head and back.
- Ticks carry disease-causing microbes. Tick-transmitted infections are more common these days than in past decades.
- Only deer ticks transmit Lyme disease bacteria. The only way to get Lyme disease is by being bitten by a deer tick.
- For most tick-borne diseases, you have at least 24 hours to find and remove a feeding tick before it transmits an infection. Even a quick daily tick check at bath or shower time can be helpful in finding and removing attached ticks before they can transmit an infection. Lyme disease bacteria take at least 24 hours to invade the tick’s saliva.
- Deer tick nymphs look like a poppy seed on your skin. They’re easy to miss, their bites are generally painless, and they have a habit of climbing up under clothing and biting in hard-to-see places.
- The easiest and safest way to remove a tick is with a pointy tweezer. Grab the tick right down next to the skin. The next step is to simply pull the tick out like a splinter.
- Tick bites and tick-borne diseases are completely preventable. There is really only one way you get a tick-transmitted disease and that’s from a tick bite. Staying on trails, wearing tick repellent clothing, treating pets, and getting into the habit of doing a quick body tick check are all great actions for preventing tick bites.
- Clothing with built-in tick repellent is best for preventing tick bites An easy way to avoid tick bites and disease is to wear clothing with Insect Shield® tick repellent built-in. The repellency is long-lasting and appropriate for use by the entire family with no restrictions for use.
Insect Shield quick facts
- Repellency is in the clothing and gear – not on your skin
- Lasts through 70 launderings
- No restrictions for use
- Appropriate for the entire family
- No need to re-apply
- Repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chigger and midges including those that can cause Lyme disease, malaria and other dangerous insect-borne diseases.
You can find Insect Shield clothing on Amazon.
I spent many months crawling around the woods in Quantico. We found a full body spray-down with white vinegar does wonders to repel the little bloodsuckers.
Easiest way to avoid tick bites, don’t go where they live! Daughter got bitten by a deer tick several years ago, now she’s allergic to almost everything. Before she only had normal allergic reactions like most people. Now the only meat she can eat is chicken, everything else can put her in the hospital. Deer ticks are BAD!