Login | June 15, 2026
Tick me off!
PETE GLADDEN
Published: June 15, 2026
You’ve likely heard that this is going to be a bad tick season.
And I hate to admit it but I can definitely vouch for that warning because in all my decades of outdoor recreation I have not seen a tick infestation as bad as it’s been this spring.
Heck, merely strolling around the backyard I end up picking at least one tick off my dog and myself, and more recently while out in Pennsylvania backpacking, I ended up as worn out from tick-picking as I was from backcountry hiking.
Yet these’s a more troubling issue here than merely being inconvenienced by all the tick checking.
Indeed, today we’re no longer dealing with the stray chance of being bitten by the Black Legged Tick which spreads Lyme disease, there’s now a host of other potential nasties out there that can be transmitted by several newer tick species that have infiltrated our area.
Here’s just a short list of what we now face right here in our own backyards.
There’s the American Dog Tick which can transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, the Lone Star Tick which can transmit a host of diseases including Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Alpha gal Syndrome and Stari, and that Black Legged Tick which can also transmit Babesiosis and the Powassan Virus in addition to Lyme Disease.
So what with the list of tick-transmitted diseases growing I’ve adopted more stringent tick protocols.
For example, after each of my dog’s yard romping sessions I force her to undergo a thorough and tedious tick-check, a probing examination of nearly every nook and cranny of her little body as she resists my efforts by doing her best whirling dervish impressions.
What’s more, after any of my lawn mowing/yard work sessions I subsequently tick-check myself while standing buck naked in the bathroom striking various unflattering poses in the wall mirror to hunt for small black/red dots lurking in the inner recesses of my armpits, inner thighs and nape of my neck.
Ditto for hiking.
Needless to say it’s all gotten me…umm, extremely ticked off!
So here’s a few words of warning for those of you who frequent the outdoors: There’s a whole new reality that you’re going to have to live by in order to keep yourself out of the med center this summer on account of tick transmitted diseases.
1) Get used to covering up more of your body by substituting long pants for shorts and long sleeve shirts for short sleeve shirts.
What’s more, wear light colors so that the ticks become way more visible, and make sure to put on long socks to hike up over the open end of your pant legs.
Yes, you’re probably going to look like a goober, but the up side is that you’ll have far less chances of picking up ticks than you would were you spiffed out in those fancy minimalistic khaki summer duds.
2) The more brushy, woodsy and thick the vegetation, the greater the likelihood that the area will have a sky high tick count.
I used to love to do bushwhacking hikes with my dog where we’d go off trail and meander about the forest.
But I’m not bothering this season, knowing that if I did I’d probably end up spending more time tick checking than I would bushwhacking.
3) Now I’m not into using all the various bug repellents because of the chemicals permeating me, my outdoor gear and everything I touch, but if the very thought of a tick on your body is overwhelmingly repellent, well, then you just might want to apply some anti-tick juice.
One of the better tick repellents is permethrin, a repellent designed to go on your clothing rather than on you, and let me tell you that this stuff is so powerful it can kill ticks on contact!
There’s also DEET, which is applied to the skin, but its reputation is a bit tarnished because of the potential side-effects - skin rashes, eye irritations - and its ability to break down various fabrics and plastics.
There’s also a plant based tick repellent available called OLE (oil of lemon eucalyptus) that's gotten good reviews.
4) Do tick-checks - often!
Yes indeed, those bygone days of finding a tick on myself or on my dog after an outdoor session used to be an oddity at best, but today finding a tick on one of us has darned near become a certainty.
So when outdoors in that greenery this summer be vigilant.