Tune in for a garden talk with Tanya Crawford-Stempel, a Vermont Department of Health nurse supervisor. Even those of us who’d been following the news about tick-borne diseases and following recommendations learned tons.
YouTube video link below.
Here’s a a smidgen of what we discussed.
- Can ticks jump on you from the ground, fly onto you, or fall on you from the trees?
- When are ticks most likely to be spreading diseases to humans in Vermont?
- Is Lyme disease the only or even the worst disease ticks spread to humans?
- Which kinds of ticks spread which diseases, and at what phases in their life cycle?
- Who is most vulnerable to tick-borne disease, and what are Vermonters experiencing county by county?
Prevention: Covering up outdoors is protective. Light-colored clothing makes ticks easy to spot and remove before going indoors. This gardener’s lightweight suit is available at hardware and paint stores.
- What are effective prevention strategies and tools?
- What are the best (and worst) ways to remove ticks once they’ve attached to you or your pet?
- What should you do with a tick once you’ve removed it, and should you have it tested? (The answer might surprise you.)
- Can ticks come into the house on you?
- After time outdoors, what should you do with your garments?
- What should you do once you get inside?
- How long can ticks live inside your house?
Tanya welcomed and added on to participants’ helpful tips, including:
- Use Permethrin.
- Learn about Permethrin’s safety and environmental considerations at Consumer Reports and the National Pesticide Information Center.
- Browse Insect Shield for options to treat your outdoor clothing, send your outdoor wear to be treated, and buy Permethrin-treated garments.
- Consider Permethrin tick tubes, which rodents bring back to their nests. Penn State researchers have studied tick tubes. You can buy tick tubes. But should you make your own?
- Carry a TickKey for removing ticks. Add it to a key chain, or toss into a bag or your vehicle.
- Or remove ticks with precision tick tweezers, such as the TweezerMan Tick Removal Tweezer.
- Try the Tick Mitt, a safe way to remove pests from pets.
Watch, learn, and Be Tick Smart (or smarter—that link takes you to a wealth of free resources and tools).
