Steps to take if you find a Tick on your body.

I live in Florida have many farm animals and we are next to a state forest. Ticks are a part of life here, doesn’t mean you cant enjoy the great outdoors, you just need to take some much needed precautions. We never go into the woods, especially in the summer, without precautions.

  1.  You should spray your legs, boots, and pants with a good repellent. There are many out there to choose from.
  2. Always take extra repellent with you’
  3. Once you have returned from your hike, do a thorough check of your body to ensure you haven’t gotten bit.

If you find a tick, don’t panic.

  1. You need to disinfect the area with alcohol around the bite and even the tick itself.
  2. Get a good pair of tweezers. Make sure your grasp the tick firmly as close to the head as possible and pull out the entire head and body. you will want to ensure you don’t break the tick into pieces.
  3. You will want to identify the species. Don’t discard the tick. get a plastic zip lock bag and place in the bag, it will quickly die. place the bag against a white background and take a photo of the tick. You can send the photo to: tickencounters.org for identification.

Remember, an infected tick must be latched on to your person for 24 hours to spread any disease.

So the most important thing to do is, check your body thoroughly after you are back from your fun in the woods. Keep safe, have a blast.

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