Preventing Tick Bites: Before You Go Out, When You Come In, and Around Your Yard

Key points

• The best defence against tickborne diseases is to avoid ticks.
• Ticks can be out at any time of year, but are most active in the warmer months, April to September.
• There are several steps you and your family can take to prevent bites.

Before you go outdoors

• Know where ticks live: grassy, brushy or wooded areas, and on animals. Walking the dog, camping, gardening or hunting can bring you close to them, and many people pick up ticks in their own yard or neighbourhood.
• Treat clothing and gear — boots, clothes, camping gear — with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin, which stays protective through several washes; or buy clothing and gear already treated.
• Avoid ticks: stay out of wooded and brushy areas with tall grass and leaf litter, and walk in the middle of trails.
• Use an EPA-registered insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone. The EPA registration number on the label means the maker gave the Environmental Protection Agency technical data on how well it works. Used as directed, registered repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women; the EPA's online search tool can help you choose one.
• Follow the label. Do not use products with OLE or PMD on children under 3.
• Sunscreen first, repellent second.

After you come indoors

• Check your clothes. Ticks can ride in on clothing; remove any you find. Tumble-dry dry clothes on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks — longer if damp. If clothes need washing first, use hot water; cold and medium temperatures will not kill ticks.
• Check gear and pets. Ticks can come in on pets, coats and daypacks and attach to someone later.
• Shower soon. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to lower the risk of Lyme disease and may lower the risk of other tickborne diseases. It can wash off unattached ticks and is a good moment for a tick check.
• Check your body after being anywhere ticks may be, your own backyard included, using a hand mirror or full-length mirror. On yourself and your children, check:
• • under the arms;
  • in and around the ears;
  • inside the belly button;
  • behind the knees;
  • in and around the hair;
  • between the legs;
  • around the waist.

Where to check for ticks. CDC.

Pesticides

Pesticides can reduce the number of ticks in treated parts of a yard, but should not be relied on to reduce the risk of infection. Always follow the label, and ask local health or agriculture officials beforehand about the best time to apply, the best product to use, and the rules for applying pesticides on residential property.

A tick-safe yard

Landscaping can reduce blacklegged ticks around the home, drawing on the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station's Tick Management Handbook:

• remove leaf litter;
• clear tall grass and brush around the house and at the edges of lawns;
• put a 3-foot-wide strip of wood chips or gravel between lawns and woods to keep ticks out of play areas;
• mow often;
• stack wood neatly in a dry place, which discourages rodents;
• keep play equipment, decks and patios away from yard edges and trees;
• fence out unwelcome animals such as deer, raccoons and stray dogs;
• remove old furniture, mattresses and rubbish where ticks can hide.

Words on this page from people and organisations outside the federal government are paraphrased; rewritten in hubnx's own words.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Preventing Tick Bites." https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/prevention/index.html
• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Tick Management Handbook. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Publications/Bulletins/b1010pdf.pdf