GREENSBORO, NC -- As the temperatures drop you might think to yourself, “ticks and mosquitos are now gone for good.” You’d be wrong
Dr. Thomas Mather says, “October and November are the months of peak adult blacklegged (deer) tick activity. You likely have let down your guard against ticks and may have stopped any tick smart habits that you were practicing in the summer. That puts you at a much greater risk for Lyme disease.
TUCK IN YOUR SHIRT. By not tucking your shirt in, you're just inviting the adult stage deer tick that latched on about knee-level to crawl right up under your shirt. Once under there, it will continue to crawl up until its movement is restricted by your shirt...maybe mid-back, chest, underarms, shoulder, collar. Those are all likely places where the tick will stop and bite!
DON’T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN AT HOME. Whether raking leaves or on a fall hike, ticks are out there ready to latch on. And not remembering to do a quick tick-check, especially above the waist, before heading to bed could mean that an attached tick will be feeding on you all night long—stealing your blood and increasing the chance that it passes on any germ it might be carrying.
CHECK YOUR PETS FOR THEIR HEALTH AND YOURS. Pets encounter ticks much more frequently than people and are 10 times more likely to get Lyme disease. That's why not protecting your pet from ticks with a quick tick-knockdown product puts you at greater risk of encountering loose and wandering ticks hitching a ride on your pet.
TICK REPELLENT PANTS. Adult stage ticks latch on about knee-high. By not wearing tick repellent pants every time you're in tick habitat, you're giving ticks free and easy access to what they want—your blood.
