UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and with spring well underway, ticks are becoming more active in Pennsylvania forests, fields and back yards.
Emily Struckhoff, a vector-borne disease program specialist with Penn State Extension, discusses the health risks associated with the pesky pests, how to protect yourself and your pets, and how to help reduce ticks in your backyard.
Q: What are the most important things people should know about ticks?
Struckhoff: Ticks are very common throughout Pennsylvania, and spring is the time of year when they start becoming more active. Specifically, the blacklegged tick — also called the deer tick — is active from the spring through the fall, and they can spread pathogens that cause several different diseases, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
If you are spending time outdoors, make sure you are taking steps to reduce your risk of tick bites. This can include wearing long pants, using an insect repellent and doing tick checks after you return indoors.
Q: How can people help control ticks in their yards?
Struckhoff: One thing you can do to control ticks on your property is to keep grass mowed short in areas where you, your family or your pets frequent, such as outdoor seating areas, playgrounds or fire pits. This will help reduce the number of ticks near areas where you spend a lot of time while allowing plants to flourish in other areas of your property. You can also move features in your yard that may harbor ticks and the animals they feed on, such as log or leaf piles, to areas where you spend less time.
For smaller properties, using tick tubes and other control methods may be beneficial. For larger properties, if you are spending time in areas of your property that may have ticks, take steps to prevent tick bites before going into those areas, such as wearing long pants and using an insect repellent. After coming indoors, make sure to do a tick check and remove any attached ticks.
Q: What should people do if they find a tick on themselves or their pets?
Struckhoff: If you find a tick on yourself or a pet, the first step is not to panic! You'll want to remove the tick as soon as possible, and the simplest way to remove a tick is with a pair of tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible with the tweezers and pull straight up. Using this technique will help you remove the tick all in one piece. Once you have removed the tick, wash the bite site with soap and water, and you can save the tick in a plastic bag in your freezer for future pathogen testing.
Q: This month is also #NoMowMay. How does the condition of lawns affect ticks?
Struckhoff: Outside areas with lots of shade, shrubbery, and tall grasses provide habitats for both ticks and the animals on which ticks feed, like mice and deer. Because of this, longer grasses — like those that might be grown for #NoMowMay — can become prime tick habitat. Ticks are sensitive to drying out, so keeping lawns mowed short can create a more unfavorable environment for ticks and reduce the number of ticks in the area.
Q: How can you create a pollinator-friendly yard while also controlling ticks?
Struckhoff: One way is by adding a native plant garden to one area of your property. Native plants can provide ample resources for many species of pollinators throughout the spring. Adding native plants to one section of your yard, while keeping other areas of your lawn where you spend time mowed short, can create favorable pollinator habitat while also keeping ticks away from you.