Ticks and summer seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. But it's a combination that could leave behind disease and disability. Lyme disease, which is carried by deer ticks, can have neurological consequences. Ticks are normally found in wooded areas and in tall grass or vegetation so environmental experts are trying to figure out how to map areas of tick infestation, while still maintaining safe green spaces.
In Ontario, forestry experts, are tracking which ticks are where. Climate change, which has brought warmer and shorter winters to the area, is partially responsible for the uptick in the tick population and in order to make some areas safer, the hotspots of ticks must be found. Precautions to take are wearing long sleeves and long pants tucked in and doing tick checks on children who have been in wooded areas. A tick needs to be embedded in the skin for a blood meal for at least 24 hours before it can spread Lyme disease, so checking often is the best way to reduce the risk of infection.
