Get Ready For Tick Season With These Simple Tips
Ticks may not invade homes, but it's still important to be aware of them as the weather begins to warm up this season. Ticks can carry a variety of infectious diseases, so it's critical to check your clothing, gear, and body every time you return from the outdoors in order to remove any ticks before they bite you. Knowing how ticks find their host, how to protect yourself, and how to educate others are the among the most important steps in preventing uncomfortable extractions and illnesses. Here are our three top tips for staying safe this tick season:
1. Perform Daily Tick Checks
As simple as it sounds, performing daily skin checks is a way to learn which parts of the body ticks most often attach to, what type of ticks live in your area, and if any ticks are getting through your preventive measures.
Check hard-to-see areas, such as behind the ears and the soles of your feet, and use a mirror if necessary. Even if you've performed a tick check earlier in the day, take a shower shortly after coming indoors and check your clothing to remove any unattached ticks and search for those that may have bitten you. If you find a tick attached to you, keep the tick (in a sealed jar or vial, for example) in case you begin to develop symptoms. This way, you can have the tick tested at a lab, possibly excusing you from blood tests.
2. Wear Tick-Protective Clothing
It’s important to realize that ticks crawl from the ground up. Ticks cannot fly, jump, or drop down from trees – they climb up their prey until they find a good spot to latch onto. With this in mind, it makes sense to ensure that the way you dress prevents ticks from coming into contact with bare skin. Wear pants with elastic at the bottom, tall socks, and closed-toed shoes to dissuade ticks from climbing any further. Tuck your shirt in and wear long sleeves. You might even consider wearing gloves if the tick population is particularly high in your area.
3. Use Clothing-Specific Repellants
Products with DEET may work against mosquitoes, but they aren’t good enough to work against ticks. Many people aren’t aware that they can make their clothing tick-repellant by using repellents containing permethrin or by buying pre-treated permethrin clothing. Permethrin kills ticks on contact, unlike DEET, which just repels insects. This important distinction means the difference between actually repelling ticks and simply thinking you’re repelling them.
Do you have a team of employees to safeguard while they work outside, or do you just love the outdoors and want to stay safe? Either way, we can help! Contact JP Pest Services for a free commercial consultation or residential estimate today!
