Outdoors Tick Safe!

Hello friends, it's that time of the year where we spend more time outdoors. I don't know about you but I just can't stand being inside the house when it's a beautiful weather outside. Thankfully, now we have many options to explore the outdoors.

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

While we want to have fun we want to make sure we are safe as well, and I didn't know about ticks until I was searching online about the forest preserve we were about to go visit. Needless to say, when I saw tick safety on the webpage, my hands quickly and without hesitation clicked the link. What is it? What can it do to me and my family? These were the first questions that popped into my mind. So I searched more about it and now I can share a few tips of what I learned so far and save you time from searching and itching while you do the search ( I personally can't search anything related to the skin and not itch).

What are ticks?

According to my research (links below) ticks are arachnids (think small spiders) that bite to attach themselves to the skin. Ticks feed on blood but guess what? Some species of ticks can survive for a year or more without food (blood). They do not jump or fly or drop to find a host, they simply lay there on the ground waiting for a host to come by so they can reach the host with their legs and crawl up until they find the perfect spot to munch on (I'm itching!!!).
Now, most ticks don't carry diseases nor cause health problems, but you want to remove them right away, because it's during their feeding that they can transmit diseases and unless you're a tick expert you won't know if they are the bad ones or not. I honestly think, that even tick experts would get them out right away.

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay

When and where will I find ticks?

Ticks are very active from April (early Spring) to late Summer (September). Ticks can be found in grassy or wooded areas.

What diseases tick bites may cause?

There are a variety of tick borne diseases, some are:

- Lyme Disease

- Tularemia

- Colorado Tick Fever

- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

- Q fever

You can find some more on the links below.

How can I prevent tick bites? 

There are many ways you can prevent tick bites, I will share a few ones that I really liked and are easy to remember, but you can search more details and find more up to date information on CDC and Tick Encounter.

Tick Bite Prevention:

- Remain in the trail;

- Tuck your pant legs into your socks.

- Use tick repellent (make sure to follow product instructions). Check EPA website to find the right insect repellent for you.

- Wear tick repellent clothing (that can be treated commercially or at home)

- Do a full tick search on your body (you can use a mirror for that), check your kids and pets once you get home.

- Tumble dry your clothes right away on high heat, or wash them on hot water.

- Bathe or shower right away.

So friends, these were just some tips to help you to stay safe from tick bites while exploring the outdoors! Please feel free to check the links below so you can have more information and do a more detailed research to make an informed decision on what's best to protect yourself and your family. This post is for information purposes only not meant to be a professional advice. I'm sharing some of the information I researched online.

Links that I used for my research:

WebMEd

Tinkergarten

Tick Encounter

EPA

Wikipedia

MedicineNet 

Hope you enjoyed our post! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a message below or reach me through the contact form.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Vanessa Z. Pawlicki