May is officially recognized as Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and often, Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Awareness Month.

It is designed to raise awareness about the risks of ticks as they become more active.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is transmitted to people by the black-legged tick (deer tick).

This condition was first identified in Lyme, Conn., after a group of children were diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.

Case numbers of Lyme disease have continuously increased, and the range has spread.

Pennsylvania has historically ranked at or near the top for total reported Lyme cases.

Ticks are not insects; they are arachnids with eight legs.

The most common ticks biting people in Pennsylvania are “2 + 3,” meaning they have a two-year life cycle and are three-host ticks.

They go through four life stages during this two-year cycle: egg, larva, nymph, and adult.

A blood-fed female lays eggs in the spring.

Later in the summer, these eggs hatch into larvae, which feed on many small animals.

After feeding, they drop off and overwinter in the soil and leaf litter.

The next spring, the larvae molt into nymphs.

Nymphs take another blood meal on a small or medium-sized animal or may bite large animals like humans.

Again, after feeding nymphs drop off the host and molt into adults in the fall.

Adult ticks feed primarily on large animals.

Adult ticks are active throughout the fall and winter when temperatures are above freezing.

There are approaches to use in tick prevention and to protect your home.

Help reduce ticks in the landscape by removing leaves, clearing brush and tall grasses and removing small animal harborages such as rock walls and wood piles.

Keeping grass mowed and providing a three-foot barrier of wood chips or stone between lawn and wooded edges can also reduce tick presence.

Applying acaricides (chemicals that are toxic to ticks) to gardens, lawns and the edge of woodlands near homes may be advisable in some situations.

All applications must adhere to the label instructions.

A licensed professional pest control expert should supervise applications to residential properties.

There are ways to protect yourself.

Be aware when you are in tick habitat and take preventative measures.

Stay close to the center of trails and avoid areas with dense vegetation.

Be especially cautious from May through July when nymphs are seeking hosts.

Black-legged ticks do not jump or fly but crawl onto people and animals from the ground or low vegetation.

Tucking your pants into your socks makes ticks crawl over the pants rather than under them, increasing the chances you will see the ticks before they bite.

Permethrin-treated clothing can provide a repellent barrier between you and ticks.

Apply products containing DEET, picaridin or IR3535 on skin after following the directions.

Conduct frequent tick checks while in the field and full-body tick checks after you come indoors.

While ticks can attach anywhere, they often prefer tight areas, such as around the waistband, behind the knee and under the armpit.

Clothing should be laundered in hot water and dried with a hot cycle to kill ticks.

If an embedded tick is found, remove it with fine tweezers by grasping the head as close to the skin as possible and pulling with steady, firm pressure.

Do not grab the tick in the middle of its body.

Pressure can force gut contents into the skin, increasing the likelihood of infection.

The use of matches, chemicals, petroleum jelly and essential oils is not recommended.

These methods will irritate the tick and may cause it to regurgitate its stomach contents, thereby increasing the possibility of infection.

“Growing Green” is contributed by Diane Dorn, Lehigh County Extension Office Staff, and Master Gardeners. Information: Lehigh County Extension Office, 610-391-9840; Northampton County Extension Office, 610-813-6613