If you happen to be bitten by a tick while out enjoying nature, you might try to panic-Google how to remove it or worry about contracting Lyme disease. While ticks are not risk-free, there are ways you can avoid them while outdoors and best practices to remove one if you are bitten:

First Some Basic Tick Facts

Ticks are arachnids, like spiders. A tick passes through several life stages: egg, larvae, nymph and adult, and feeds on blood between each life cycle after the larvae stage. Ticks are found all throughout the US, and they can be found year round in California.

Common Ticks in the Bay Area:
Western black legged tick
Pacific Coast tick

How to Avoid Tick Bites

Contrary to popular belief, ticks can’t jump or fly. They actually do something called questing by climbing to the top of grasses and waving their front legs around to try to catch onto something. They often do this on the edge of trails where they can grab onto you or your clothing.

Because ticks are so abundant and only about the size of poppy seeds, it is easier to defend against them than avoid them altogether. Here are some ways to defend against ticks:

Wear long pants and sleeves
Tuck your pants into your socks
Tuck your shirt into the waistband of your pants
Wear light colors to help see ticks easier
Stay on the center of trails and avoid long grasses
Use insect spray with DEET or permethrin (more info below)
Frequently check for ticks on yourself and walking buddies while out on the trail
Check for ticks and remove your clothes once you are home. Don’t put your clothing in your regular laundry as any ticks that hitched a ride home with you could crawl out to find you or a pet. You can leave your clothing outside or in the garage, or you can toss them in the dryer to kill the ticks before re-wearing.
Shower after getting home

How to Check for Ticks

You should do frequent scans of your gear and clothing while outside and a thorough tick search at home. If a tick lands on your clothing it can easily be flicked off. If one finds its way to your skin, it will want to find warm places where it might be hard to find or remove. When doing a tick check at home take some time to check your armpits, head, knees, pants line, sock line, bra, groin, and hairline. Your fingers are more sensitive than your eyes and may be better at finding ticks on your body. You may want to check for ticks up to 3 days after being outdoors as they might be increasing in size over time. Remember to check your pets for ticks, too.

Tick Repellent Options

The EPA regulates repellents that are effective against ticks and mosquitoes. Anything that the EPA considered effective will have an EPA registration number somewhere on the bottle. Your best options to defend against ticks are something with DEET, permethrin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Permethrin is used to treat clothing and gear, and can last for several weeks and washes. Just be sure when treating clothing to keep it away from animals until it is dry. There are many other oil-based products available, but they have not been approved by the EPA to defend against tick bites. Always read the label of repellents and apply according to the directions on the bottle.

Lyme Disease from Ticks

The CDC estimates that nearly 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease are reported each year, and it is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Though Lyme disease is very prevalent in parts of the US, the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District has found that only 3% of ticks carry the germ for the disease in San Mateo County. We are fortunate in California to have Western fence lizards who help a lot with that low rate. When a tick latches on to a lizard, the germ for Lyme is removed, so it can’t spread it to any other animals. This is a stark contrast with the East Coast where about 80% of ticks are found to carry Lyme.

Lyme disease is treatable once diagnosed. Be sure to reach out to a doctor if you develop any of these symptoms up to 30 days after a tick bite:

rash
joint pain
headaches
lethargy/fatigue
fever
bump/redness at bite site
flu-like symptoms
Bell’s palsy

How to Remove a Tick

The most important thing to remember when removing a tick is to stay calm and be purposeful with your actions. A tick usually has to be attached for 24 hours before the Lyme germ can be transferred to you, so you have some time to gather supplies and remove the tick without panic. Place pointed tip tweezers between the tick and your skin and pull vertically to remove. Don’t pull from the end of the tick as that can irritate it and cause it to bury deeper in your skin. You can also use something called a tick key. Put the flat side of the key down on your skin with the tick in the opening and slide to pull the tick out.

The Lyme germ lives in the body of the tick, not the head. If you can only get the body of the tick out but the head is still in your skin, don’t worry—your body should push out the head like a splinter after a few days. You can cause more harm and possible infection by continually stabbing at the wound to remove the head. Always wash the site of a bite with soap and water to avoid any infections in addition to Lyme. Put the tick in a bag with the date and location of where you got bit. If you develop symptoms, this can be helpful if you see a doctor about the bite.

Do not yank, squish, or burn the tick. This could cause it to regurgitate material into your skin that includes the Lyme germ or bury deeper into your skin.

Tick Safety at Volunteer Days

We sometimes see ticks at our volunteer workdays. We cover the risk of ticks at the start of each of our events, and do frequent tick checks with our participants. One of our habitat restoration project sites, Foothills Nature Preserve in Palo Alto, was recently tested for ticks and Lyme disease and had less than 2% of ticks test positive. Though that is a fairly low rate, we are still vigilant to keep our volunteers tick smart at our sites.

The recommendations in this post are based on the sources below. If bitten by a tick be sure to consult your health care professional about proper care and treatment.