Tactics against ticks
As a long-time outdoorsman and field instructor, tick safety procedures are a routine part of life for me and my family, and are an important safety measure for those who enjoy the outdoors.
In our region, we have a few tick species that can transmit bacterial illness, especially if not removed from the body for over 36 hours. The most famous is Lyme’s disease, but there are other bacterial illnesses you should be aware of. With early detection they are highly treatable, but can be debilitating and challenging to treat if overlooked.
Tick abundance is often highly localized, and varies greatly from park to park, and from site to site within a park. In this program we spend considerable time off trail, potentially in areas that have ticks.
Please follow these instructions:
1. Check your child’s hair and body carefully for ticks after camp/outdoor play. You can use a bright flashlight to aid in the search. Be sure to check in hair, bellybutton and groin.
2. If you do find a tick, remove it as soon as possible, carefully by hand, with narrow tweezers (especially if tiny) or tick removal device if readily available. I immediately place the tick in scotch tape so I don't lose it, and can still ID it.
Demo video on tick removal (2 mins)
Demo video animation (1 min)
A pediatrician’s advice on tick removal (4 mins)
3. Know the symptoms of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and be sure to seek immediate diagnosis and treatment if any are apparent.
Here are more sources:
Fairfax County Youtube Video (2 mins.)
CT Tick Information Sheet Good background information from the state where Lyme’s disease was first discovered, and is most common.
Fairfax County Tick Information Sheet Please note image of ticks at bottom of the document!
CDC Tick Information page
4. Tick repellents
Personally, I rely mostly on 20% picaridin based sprays like the Sawyer Products 20% Picaridin Insect Repellent 6-oz Spray. Picaridin is an odorless compound that seems to be safe for people, clothing and the environment; importantly there are peer-reviewed studies that find it comparably effective to DEET. By contrast DEET is strong smelling, can harm synthetic fabrics, and repels fish and aquatic life.
For maximum protection, consider permethrin-treated clothing. Insect Shield and some retailers have clothing impregnated with permethrin, which is highly effective against ticks.
You should not apply this spray directly to skin, though. Also, wearing permethrin-treated clothing into waterways may harm aquatic life.
5. Tools of the trade
To summarize, the tools I personally use for tick combat are:
1. A bright flash light to aid in finding them.
2. 20% picaridin spray
3. Fine-tipped tweezers (for ticks too small to grip with fingers)
4. Scotch tape
5. Occasionally, good magnification. A basic microscope or powerful lens helps to ID the tick species and stage of development. The smallest, larval stage is not generally infectious. Different tick species and stages can harbor different types of illness. To ID them, and learn more about the species, see here.
6. Insect Shield (permethrin) impregnated clothing. I sometimes use permethrin-treated clothing at the locations and times of year where ticks are most abundant, and/or when I am not able to easily perform tick checks regularly. Some of our students use this approach much more generally to be on the safe side.
6. "Natural" Solutions?
Both picaridin and permethrin are concentrated synthetic compounds that were originally discovered in plants.
I've had some students avoid these products in favor of more "natural" products. At least in the case of essential oils, I've seen first-hand on multiple occasions where students using this tactic were picking up more ticks than students not using any spray. While I don't know what the formulations were, the ticks were lone star larvae, nymphs and adults.
I have heard of students having good results at another program using BuzzAway Extreme. However, it has a very strong smell that I also find repellent, and I have no reason to think that it is any more benign for people or nature than picaridin.
At most of our program locations (unless we tell you otherwise) ticks are not very prevalent, especially in the cooler months. Many of our families rely on tick checks alone, with no spray. However, if you or your child cannot be reliably tick-checked by another person in a timely manner, it is imperative to use an effective product in addition to tick self-checks.
There may be other effective products, perhaps more "natural" ones out there, but I would not rely on them unless you can find convincing evidence in the scientific literature. You can research that directly using Google Scholar, and download journal articles for free at academic libraries or using Sci Hub.
As a long-time outdoorsman and field instructor, tick safety procedures are a routine part of life for me and my family, and are an important safety measure for those who enjoy the outdoors.
In our region, we have a few tick species that can transmit bacterial illness, especially if not removed from the body for over 36 hours. The most famous is Lyme’s disease, but there are other bacterial illnesses you should be aware of. With early detection they are highly treatable, but can be debilitating and challenging to treat if overlooked.
Tick abundance is often highly localized, and varies greatly from park to park, and from site to site within a park. In this program we spend considerable time off trail, potentially in areas that have ticks.
Please follow these instructions:
1. Check your child’s hair and body carefully for ticks after camp/outdoor play. You can use a bright flashlight to aid in the search. Be sure to check in hair, bellybutton and groin.
2. If you do find a tick, remove it as soon as possible, carefully by hand, with narrow tweezers (especially if tiny) or tick removal device if readily available. I immediately place the tick in scotch tape so I don't lose it, and can still ID it.
Demo video on tick removal (2 mins)
Demo video animation (1 min)
A pediatrician’s advice on tick removal (4 mins)
3. Know the symptoms of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and be sure to seek immediate diagnosis and treatment if any are apparent.
Here are more sources:
Fairfax County Youtube Video (2 mins.)
CT Tick Information Sheet Good background information from the state where Lyme’s disease was first discovered, and is most common.
Fairfax County Tick Information Sheet Please note image of ticks at bottom of the document!
CDC Tick Information page
4. Tick repellents
Personally, I rely mostly on 20% picaridin based sprays like the Sawyer Products 20% Picaridin Insect Repellent 6-oz Spray. Picaridin is an odorless compound that seems to be safe for people, clothing and the environment; importantly there are peer-reviewed studies that find it comparably effective to DEET. By contrast DEET is strong smelling, can harm synthetic fabrics, and repels fish and aquatic life.
For maximum protection, consider permethrin-treated clothing. Insect Shield and some retailers have clothing impregnated with permethrin, which is highly effective against ticks.
You should not apply this spray directly to skin, though. Also, wearing permethrin-treated clothing into waterways may harm aquatic life.
5. Tools of the trade
To summarize, the tools I personally use for tick combat are:
1. A bright flash light to aid in finding them.
2. 20% picaridin spray
3. Fine-tipped tweezers (for ticks too small to grip with fingers)
4. Scotch tape
5. Occasionally, good magnification. A basic microscope or powerful lens helps to ID the tick species and stage of development. The smallest, larval stage is not generally infectious. Different tick species and stages can harbor different types of illness. To ID them, and learn more about the species, see here.
6. Insect Shield (permethrin) impregnated clothing. I sometimes use permethrin-treated clothing at the locations and times of year where ticks are most abundant, and/or when I am not able to easily perform tick checks regularly. Some of our students use this approach much more generally to be on the safe side.
6. "Natural" Solutions?
Both picaridin and permethrin are concentrated synthetic compounds that were originally discovered in plants.
I've had some students avoid these products in favor of more "natural" products. At least in the case of essential oils, I've seen first-hand on multiple occasions where students using this tactic were picking up more ticks than students not using any spray. While I don't know what the formulations were, the ticks were lone star larvae, nymphs and adults.
I have heard of students having good results at another program using BuzzAway Extreme. However, it has a very strong smell that I also find repellent, and I have no reason to think that it is any more benign for people or nature than picaridin.
At most of our program locations (unless we tell you otherwise) ticks are not very prevalent, especially in the cooler months. Many of our families rely on tick checks alone, with no spray. However, if you or your child cannot be reliably tick-checked by another person in a timely manner, it is imperative to use an effective product in addition to tick self-checks.
There may be other effective products, perhaps more "natural" ones out there, but I would not rely on them unless you can find convincing evidence in the scientific literature. You can research that directly using Google Scholar, and download journal articles for free at academic libraries or using Sci Hub.