CHENANGO COUNTY – Spring is finally here and many of us are looking to cure our cabin fever with some time spent outside. Whether you prefer hiking, camping, backpacking, geocaching, fishing, hunting, climbing, wildlife viewing, or gardening, you will want to keep tick prevention in mind.

Preventive measures should be used year round but particularly during the warmer seasons. We can always avoid brushy and wooded areas and stay in the center of the trail to reduce our chances of encountering ticks, but where’s the fun in that?

For those of us who like to explore, there are some steps that we can take to reduce the chance of having one of these unwanted visitors.

Our clothing choices can help prevent ticks from attaching to us. Wear long sleeve shirts and pants when possible. I myself wear nylon or polyester hiking pants. They are very lightweight and they dry fast in the event of rain.

Tuck in your shirt and tuck your pant legs into your socks to give ticks fewer entry points to reach your skin.

It can be helpful to wear light colored clothing as well so that it is easier to spot a tick crawling on the outside of your clothing.

There is some clothing that you can purchase with repellent built into the fabric. For those of you who don’t like chemicals there are new base layers out that are designed to protect against ticks and other biting insects.

I have not tried these yet myself but the fabric they use is created to prevent insects from biting through. The cuffs have a snug fitting elastic to prevent insects from crawling inside.

There is always the option of using spray repellents as well.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests using repellent that contains 20 percent or more of permethrin, picaridin, IR3535, or DEET. Be sure to follow the instructions for these sprays though.

Sprays that have permethrin as an active ingredient should only be sprayed on your clothing and gear. I used this as a biological field technician while working in Nebraska and Missouri. It is best to spray your clothing in advance and then let it dry before wearing it. I would also spray the cuffs of my clothing.

Be very careful not to get this on your skin. I once had a spray bottle I was using and the chemical oozed down the side of the can rather than creating a mist spray like it was supposed to. Some of it ran over my thumb. I can tell you from experience it will burn.