Found a tick? Here’s what to do.

This is part of a recurring series to help you stay safe from insects, plants and other critters you might encounter.

Scouts and Scouters spend plenty of time in places where ticks live. Although these tiny arachnids can carry diseases like Lyme disease, a little prevention and know-how can significantly reduce your risk.

Ticks don’t jump, fly or drop from trees. Instead, they climb to the highest point they can find on tall grass, weeds or brush and wait for a person or animal to walk past. Once they make contact, they grab on and begin looking for a place to attach. They’re also known for transferring from animals. Dogs and deer are two of their favorite methods of transportation.

That’s why Tree Kiester, director of environmental health and safety at Scouting America, says one of the best ways to avoid ticks is to stay on established trails. Ticks can thrive even a foot off the trail.

“If you’re walking in some weeds and grass that are known to harbor ticks, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll pick up one of these hitchhikers along the way,” he says. “The main thing is to stay on the trail.”

A little spray goes a long way

Insect repellent remains one of the most effective tools for preventing tick bites. Treat your clothing and gear first, then yourself. And don’t forget that your skin and your clothing take two different products.

For clothing, permethrin works well. Be sure to follow manufacturer instructions.

Permethrin isn’t recommended for your skin, though. For skin, insect repellent offers excellent coverage. However, not all insect repellents are recommended for kids. Know what product you’re using before passing it around to everybody at camp.

Perform regular tick checks

Even when you take precautions, a tick can find its way onto your clothing. That’s why tick checks are important, especially during outdoor activities. If you feel something crawling on your skin, stop and investigate so you catch it before it attaches.

Don’t wait until you get home to do a thorough tick check. During a campout, this should be a regular and frequent routine. Do another tick check when you return home. Check pets, too. Dogs can pick up ticks outdoors and bring them into tents and vehicles.

How to remove a tick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

1. Grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible using clean, fine-tipped tweezers. (Regular tweezers or your fingers work if those aren’t available.) Avoid squeezing the tick’s body.
2. Pull the tick away from the skin with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick, which can cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin. (Don’t worry if this happens — your body will naturally push out the mouthparts as your skin heals. You can also try to remove them with tweezers, but if you can’t, just leave them alone.)
3. Don’t crush the tick with your fingers. Instead, do one of these:
4. Place it in a sealed container.
5. Wrap it tightly in tape.
6. Flush it down the toilet.
7. Put it in alcohol.
8. Thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with soap and water, rubbing alcohol, or hand sanitizer.

See the CDC’s tick removal fact sheet.

Ticks and Lyme disease

Common diseases caused by ticks include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Lyme disease, according to the CDC, makes up nearly 80% of all reported cases. Lyme disease symptoms usually appear within three to 30 days of a tick bite. According to the CDC, some kind of rash occurs in about 70% to 80% of cases. But only about 9% to 20% are the “bull’s-eye rash,” a red, expanding rash that sometimes clears in the center to form a target or bull’s-eye. Any Lyme disease rash can be difficult to identify, and even if you don’t have one, you still might have Lyme disease.

Joint stiffness and flu-like signs are possible. Flu-like symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. 

Fun tick facts

• Not every tick carries disease. While some can spread illnesses such as Lyme disease, many ticks neither carry nor transmit pathogens.
• A tick can go a long time without eating. Some species can survive for several months without a meal.
• Baby ticks have only six legs. When a tick sheds its skin for the first time, it gains two more legs and becomes the eight-legged arachnids we recognize.
• A tick can increase its body weight dramatically. Some female ticks can swell to more than 100 times their weight after a blood meal.
• There are more than 900 tick species worldwide. About 90 are found in the United States.