Skip to content Preventing Tick Bites
Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks
- Avoid wooded and grassy areas.
- While hiking, stay near the center of trails.
Dress Appropriately and Use Tick Repellent
- Cover skin with long pants and long sleeves.
- Use clothing that have been pretreated with permethrin, or spray 0.5% permethrin on clothing.
- Spray footwear with permethrin.
- Use repellant that contain at least 20% DEET, picaridin, or IR3535.
- Shower right after coming home.
- Check for ticks on body, gear, and pets.
- Tumble dry clothes on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any ticks.
Finding and Removing Ticks
- Shower right after coming home.
- Check for ticks on body, gear, and pets.
- Tumble dry clothes on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any ticks.
Tick Prevention for Pets
- Purchase over the counter spot-on medication.
- Give once-a-month oral medications.
- Bathe pets in medicated shampoo about twice a week.
- Tick collars can help prevent ticks from latching to the head or neck.
- Sprays and powders are topical medications that can be applied to repel ticks.