To reduce potential tick habitats on your property, we suggest: Speaking with your veterinarian about tick preventative for your pets.Using caution when spending time in potential tick hot spots, such as wooded areas, tall grasses, dense overgrowth.Not skimping on tick checks- perform them every day and more than once a day if you vacillate between being outdoors and inside.Wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants, and other protective clothing when you know you’ll be in an area where ticks are likely to be found.Using an EPA approved repellent (talk to your family doctor if you’re not sure what one to use).In order to protect yourself and loved ones against ticks when you go outside, we recommend: How to protect against ticks and the illnesses they spread In more than one spot on the web, researchers have noted climate change and an increase in deer population could be to blame for an ever-increasing tick problem in Maine as well. And from looking at the screenshot we pulled from the Maine Tracking Network website, we see that there have been 237 probable or confirmed cases of Lyme in Maine so far this year – that’s January 1st to April 9th. While we cannot say for certain what 2022’s tick season will look like exactly, we do know that Mainers are already finding ticks on themselves and others. Late-stage Lyme disease signs and symptoms include, but are not limited to: While that is handy to know, it doesn’t always present and it’s one of many signs to look out for.Įarly Lyme disease signs and symptoms include: When it comes to identifying the signs of Lyme disease, we’re quite confident most people would know to look for the notorious bull’s eye rash that forms around a bite site. We realize that we’ve spent more time on the subject of Lyme disease than the other tick-borne illnesses but that’s because it is one of the most pressing health risks associating with ticks in Maine and so deserves the attention. Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia (spread by infected American dog ticks) are also tickborne illnesses one should be aware of if they spend any amount of time here. Health risks associated with ticks in MaineĪs we mentioned in a previous blog post about ticks in Maine, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia Miyamoto, and Powassan virus can all be transmitted by infected blacklegged ticks or deer ticks as they are more commonly called here. In the context of this post, we’re going to approach this three-letter word in its original context and contemplate just how bad (read not good) ticks in Maine are. Other times it means something good or even better than good it can be confusing to say the least. Sometimes bad means harmful, unpleasant, or just not good. Remember when you were a kid and bad had a negative connotation? Today’s vernacular isn’t quite as straightforward. We understand the risks associated with ticks in our state but we still ask the question, are ticks bad in Maine? The answer is yes, ticks are bad in the Pine Tree state and in more ways than one. We’ve also watched the number of Lyme disease cases associated with infected deer ticks increase significantly over the years. We’ve become experts at inspecting ourselves, our kids, and our pets after spending any amount of time outdoors. We’ve stayed on paths while hiking to avoid wooded areas where these biting insects hang out. Unfortunately for Maine residents, ticks have been a regular part of our lives for years now.
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