How to protect yourself from ticks year-round

WASHINGTON — Ticks can be active in any season and it’s important to check for and remove the bloodsuckers as quickly as possible — especially after you’ve been outside hiking, gardening or enjoying nature.“Humans are outside more in summer so we hear about more tick infections,” said Sam Telford, an infectious diseases expert at Tufts University.

WASHINGTON — Ticks can be active in any season and it’s important to check for and remove the bloodsuckers as quickly as possible — especially after you’ve been outside hiking, gardening or enjoying nature.

“Humans are outside more in summer so we hear about more tick infections,” said Sam Telford, an infectious diseases expert at Tufts University. But he urges caution year-round because “every season is tick season.”

While tick populations vary a lot regionally, some Northeastern states including Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are seeing “above average” numbers of American dog ticks this year, said Telford.

And New York state is seeing a higher number of reported deer tick bites this year than last year, said Saravanan Thangamani, who studies tick-borne diseases at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Ticks, like mosquitos, need to feed on blood. But instead of a quick prick, they are slow feeders — with hooked mouth parts that attach into the skin of deer, rabbits, dogs and people.