Ticks

• Confirm their identity. Ticks have 6 or 8 legs, no waist, and they cannot jump or fly.
• Check yourself and your pet for ticks often, especially when leaving a potentially infested area.
• Wear light colored clothing to make ticks easier to spot.
• Tuck pant legs into socks or shoes to keep ticks from finding bare skin. If you find a tick remove it immediately and correctly. Save the tick for later identification.
• Stay in the center of trails to avoid tall grass where ticks may hide.
• Run clothing in the dryer using high heat to kill ticks.
• Remove debris, trim shrubbery and keep vegetation low in your yard.
• Create a barrier of bark mulch or gravel between lawns and tree lines.
• Move children's play equipment away from tree lines and put down bark mulch.
• Deter wildlife, including rodents, which can bring ticks into your backyard.
• Insect repellents have been recommended, if needed. If applying to children consider these precautions.

If you choose to use a pesticide, read the label before you buy. Try a lower toxicity product first.

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Common Ticks, Diseases, and Spatial Distribution

Additional Resources:

• Where Ticks Live - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• How to identify a tick - The Tick App, Centers for Disease Control
• Ticks by Species - University of Rhode Island
• Tick Identification - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
• Common Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases in Pennsylvania - PennState Extension
• Ticks and Disease in Kentucky - University of Kentucky Entomology
• Ticks Affecting Animal Health - Iowa State University

Tick Bite Prevention

• Ticks Pose an Increasing Health Risk - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• How to Prevent Mosquito and Tick Bites - CDC
• What to Do After a Tick Bite - CDC
• Understanding Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases - CDC
• Preventing Tick Bites - CDC
• Tick Prevention - eXtension.org
• Tick Bite Prevention - University of Rhode Island TickEncounter Resource Center
• Tickborne Diseases in Workers - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

Controlling Ticks

• Community Agencies that Manage Public Health Pests - NPIC
• Tick Encounter Resource Center - University of Rhode Island
• Reducing risk of tick exposure around homes - CDC
• Keep Pets Safe Around Pesticides (p.2-Fleas and Ticks) - Oregon State University Extension
• Pollinator Friendly Mosquito and Tick Control - Pollinator Partnership
• Ticks & Tick-borne Illnesses in Alabama - Alabama Cooperative Extension
• One Health and Disease: Tick-Borne Disease - National Park Service
• Tick Management Handbook - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
• Maine School IPM Fact Sheet: Ticks - State of Maine

Biology of Ticks

• Lab Identification of Parasites: Ticks - Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, CDC
• Tick Biology - Cornell University Cooperative Extension Service
• Biology of Ticks - Northern Salinas Valley Mosquito Abatement District
• Tick and Tick Diseases - University of Florida IFAS Extension
• Publications about Ticks - University of Florida IFAS Extension
• Ticks - University of Minnesota Extension

Through its county agents, the Cooperative Extension Service gives individuals access to the resources at land-grant universities across the nation. These universities are centers for research in many subjects, including entomology (the study of insects) and agriculture. Each county within the United States has an Extension office, which is staffed with agents who work closely with university-based Extension specialists to deliver answers to your questions about gardening, agriculture, and pest control.

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