Experts weigh in on tick prevention for the summer season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, here in Indiana, tick season was lower than usual due to the colder spring, but because of the quick change in temperatures for the summer, experts say ticks are expected to be at their worse these next few weeks.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Know where to expect ticks. Spending time in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas could expose you to ticks. This could include walking your dog, gardening, playing outside, hiking, camping, hunting, or other outdoor activities. Many people get tick bites in their own backyards or neighborhoods.
• Treat your clothes and outdoor gear with 0.5% permethrin.
• Wear EPA-registered insect repellents. Not all repellents are effective against both mosquitoes and ticks.
• Reduce the amount of exposed skin

Lee Green with Indiana DNR explains one of the first steps to prevention is wearing repellent both for your skin and your clothes.

“As far as tick borne disease prevention, the key would be tick bite prevention, so the first thing to do is protect yourself,” says Lee Green, Senior Medical Entomologist for Indiana DNR. “If you are going out in the woods, wearing long pants and treating those pants with permethrin, then treating skin with EPA repellent can help reduce amount of ticks that get on you.”

Further resources can be found here.