How can I prevent tick bites and lessen my change of contracting a tick-borne disease?
• • Wear light colored clothing while entering tick habitats, as it will be easier to notice ticks on your clothing; • • Tuck pants into socks and shirts into pants to prevent any ticks from attaching to your skin. • • Spray insect repellant containing DEET on your shoes, pants, etc. • • Wear gloves while gardening because ticks generally live under the soil and in leaf litter. • • When mowing the lawn, wear a hat, long pants, and shoes. Adult ticks crawl up branches and grass to grab onto a passing host. • • Tie hair up or wear a hat while entering a tick habitat. • • Thoroughly check yourself and children for ticks after outdoor activities, especially when you are in areas where ticks are common.
