About Kris Parker

Kris Parker is a student at the City University of New York's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and a 2021 summer intern at the Adirondack Explorer.

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  1. Vanessa B says

    I feel like I leave the same comment on all of these tick articles but it bears repeating as many times as possible: always do a tick check when outside for pretty much any amount of time. Always, always. Like brushing your teeth. All my relatives that got Lyme got it by doing yardwork on their properties. I’ve actually only gotten 1-2 ticks on trail in my life. Also, if you find one, it can take them up to 24 hours to spread disease, though I bet that depends on the disease and I’ve read this only specifically for Lyme. So if you pull it out same day and monitor, you’re in good shape. Call your doc for some doxycycline at first hint of fever, etc.

    Side bar: let our friends the snakes hang around, as they eat the rodents that allow ticks to flourish :).

    • Boreas says

      Along the same lines, I feel commercial or DIY Tick Tubes are beneficial in keeping tick populations down around your home. Basically, permethrin-treated nesting material for rodents.

  2. Ellen says

    Thank you for this article. Most ticks I’ve gotten have been from doing yard work – – – but not since following a park ranger’s advice to wear high rain boots. Now no more ticks, not even the nymphs – apparently they can’t cling to the rubber as you pass them. As for other recommendations, very glad to see you did NOT recommend the time-worn, but horribly unhelpful “socks over pants”. I advise, NEVER wear socks over pants – you might as well be a full body of fur. The ticks will be thankful for the easy-to-cling-onto-surface, and crawl right up.

  3. Worth Gretter says

    The final paragraph says:
    “Tick-bite prevention strategies include wearing light-colored clothing for easier visual detection, wearing long pants and sleeves, avoiding dense woods and brush, using repellent, checking your clothing and body, and bathing after being outdoors.”

    This omits the MOST EFFECTIVE prevention strategy of all, permethrin-treated clothing. You may says this is covered under “using repellent” but to most people that means bug spray on your skin.

    With permethrin-treated pants, shirt, socks, and hat, you can simply forget about the tick threat. I go in the woods all the time, and haven’t had a tick bite in three years. My wife had three ticks this spring, all due to venturing off the lawn without her tick-proof clothing, and she is now more careful.

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