How to Protect Yourself From Ticks — and Lyme Disease — in the Bay Area

Even after a relatively mild and somewhat dry winter, Bay Area hikers have reported ticks all over local trails this spring. And local parks districts are advising hikers to cover up their skin and be extra vigilant.

The Bay Area Lyme Foundation has seen a recent increase among people reaching out “about the explosion in ticks that they’re seeing this season,” according to David Walsey, the executive director of the organization — which funds research around diagnosing and treating Lyme disease nationwide.

Measuring the tick population of a place like the Bay Area can be complicated. Despite all the attention on ticks right now, the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District is currently reporting “normal-ish levels” of the creatures locally, said communications director Rachel Curtis-Robles.

But while neither her office nor the Bay Area Lyme Foundation collect actual population information about ticks here in the Bay Area, “ticks are around all year in our area,” warned Walsey. “There is really not a ‘tick season.'”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Lyme disease affects 500,000 people across the country each year. In the Western United States, the CDC is reporting the highest number of emergency department visits for tick bites this year in almost a decade. And while Lyme is generally regarded as a bigger threat on the East Coast than it is to Californians,, the disease is still present in nearly every county in our state.

All of this means it’s important to protect yourself from ticks and tick bites, wherever you live. Read on to find out more about avoiding ticks, removing ticks from your body and how to keep your pets safe — plus suggestions on the Bay Area hikes where your chances of ticks might be lower.

Jump straight to:

• How can I avoid ticks and tick bites?
• What should I do if I get a tick bite?
• Where can I hike in the Bay Area to avoid ticks?

What to know about Bay Area ticks

There are several types of ticks that call the Bay Area home.

The American dog tick and the Pacific Coast tick are larger and don’t typically infect humans with Lyme disease (although they can carry other pathogens that lead to illnesses, like fevers and rashes. But the Western blacklegged tick does pose a Lyme risk — and right now, during springtime, is when they’re the smallest and most easily-missed, Curtis-Robles said.

“The danger is … they’re only the size of a poppy seed,” she said. “So those can be really hard for a person to notice if it’s on them.” (Western blacklegged ticks are different to Eastern blacklegged ticks, which are also known as deer ticks and are found outside of the western U.S.)

Western blacklegged ticks tend to live in tall grasses and wooded areas, where scrubs and bushes are plentiful. And when they’re young, in the nymph stage and harder to find on your body, is when they’re most likely to transmit Lyme disease.

The vector control district in San Mateo County takes samples along public trails to get a better picture of when and where ticks live in the Bay Area, said Curtis-Robles. They also test the ticks they collect for pathogens, including the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease.

Some reassuring news: Less than 5% of the ticks tested in San Mateo County are carrying the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease, she said.

That’s in contrast to the East Coast and Northwest, where 50-60% of ticks have been found to carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease — and some studies even suggest that number is up to 80%, according to Curtis-Robles.

That’s in part due to a secret weapon we have here in California: the Western fence lizard. These iridescent lizards are common hosts for ticks in their adolescent stage — and are even preferred by teenage ticks over other hosts like rodents, deer or dogs — but the lizard’s blood contains a protein that kills the Lyme-causing bacteria.

The science, however, is complex, asserts a page from the vector control district: One study concluded that ticks that feed on these lizards, when feeding again, are more likely to transmit the bacteria. Another suggests that the prevalence of lizards in California is what’s driving up mature tick populations to begin with.

In any case, it means that “the risk in California is much lower, but it’s not zero,” Curtis-Robles said.

In fact, Bay Area Lyme Foundation was founded in 2012 because few people believed Lyme disease even exists in the Bay Area and California, said Walsey — where “it was historically perceived as a Northeast and somewhat of a Midwest problem”

“But in fact, we now know that ticks that carry Lyme has been found in all 50 states, including almost every county in California,” he said.

The group began by funding studies to detect the bacteria that causes Lyme in ticks, and now has expanded to support research to advance diagnostics and therapeutics for patients with Lyme.

How to avoid ticks and tick bites in the Bay Area

Watch where you walk

Stay on trail — in the middle is best — and out of tall grasses. Ticks don’t tend to be in manicured lawn areas like soccer fields, but they can be found on trails near beaches at similar rates to woodland areas, Walsey said.

Cover up your skin (the right way)

Wear light-colored long pants and sleeves. Also, tuck in your clothes: This helps keep ticks off of your skin so you can catch them before they bite.

Consider using chemical tick repellent

There are several insect or tick repellent that are registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including DEET or Permethrin. Be aware that DEET can erode plastic, so be careful not to use it on polyester clothing or opt for Permethrin-treated clothing instead.

If you’re really worried about tick bites, you can even use a repellant on the skin you’re covering up, Curtis-Robles said.

“That will help deter the ticks,” she said. “If they get on you, they’re going to very quickly want to get off of you, even sort of just letting go and falling off, because it’s very uncomfortable for them to even touch the repellents.”

Protect your pet

Talk to your vet, Curtis-Robles advised, and ask for a medication that repels fleas and ticks, to give them an even better chance of avoiding tick bites.

Watch your head 

Ticks are commonly found on peoples’ and pets’ heads, Curtis-Robles said, and some people assume that’s because they drop from trees above.

But that’s not necessarily the case, she said — rather, they are doing something called “questing.”

“They crawl to the top of the tall grass and they stick out their legs and they just hope that somebody wanders by that they can grab onto,” she said. “It just happens that when they’re questing and looking, they’re going to crawl up a person until they find a cozy spot where they feel like they’re not going to get groomed off easily.”

“But by the time they get to the top of the person, they run out of options,” she said. “And so quite frequently, people will find them on their heads and their hair.”

How to do a proper tick check

• When you get home, remove the clothes you wore outside as soon as you can. If you’re not immediately planning to wash them, at least put them in the dryer, which should kill the ticks.
• Run your hands on your entire body and through your hair, checking for any ticks. They don’t bite instantly, so double check the “cozy spots,” as Curtis-Robles calls them, like your groin area, between your toes, belly button, behind your ears and in your armpits — anywhere a tick might seek warmth.
• Remember that ticks can be as small as a sesame or poppy seed
• For children: Check during bathtime when you can see their whole body
• For dogs: Run your fingers through their fur to detect little bumps — this is easier than parting their hair. Don’t forget to check their face, in and around their ears, and under their back legs, “really running your hands over their entire body — especially with dogs that have that thicker undercoat,” Curtis-Robles said.

You can even request a free tick bite prevention kit from your local vector control district, which includes information about repelling ticks and tools to remove them.

What to do if you get a tick bite

Don’t panic – not every tick has Lyme, and even those that do may not transmit it to your body immediately.

Safely remove the tick as soon as you can. Use tweezers to get as close to the skin as possible to remove the entire tic — but do it slowly and steadily. Do not jerk, squeeze, twist or pull off the tick. And don’t believe the various at-home remedies you may have learned from relatives: Do not try to smother it with Vaseline or nail polish or burn it off.

Immediately after you’ve removed the tick:

Dispose of the tick by flushing it down the toilet or putting it in alcohol. Do not crush the tick with your fingers. Wash your hands and the bite area with soap and water. You can apply antiseptic gel and a Band-Aid to the bite.

For longer-term care:

Keep track of when and where you may have been bitten to report to your doctor if needed. For the next 30 days, monitor for any symptoms of what could be a tick-borne disease like Lyme. Symptoms include:

• Fever, headache and other flu symptoms
• Rash (which sometimes, but not always, resembles a bullseye)
• Fatigue, aches and pains

Your doctor may want you to take antibiotics.

It’s important to remember that ticks don’t just carry Lyme, so be sure to keep an eye out for any symptoms of illness, Walsey said. Other diseases could include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever plus other infections and rashes whose symptoms may present similarly to Lyme.

Getting ticks tested for Lyme disease:

If you want to, you can even save the tick and send it in for testing to your local vector control district.

Just be aware: The CDC does not recommend testing ticks that have bitten humans. This is because results can be unreliable, positive results don’t guarantee the tick passed the disease to you and negative results from one tick can lead to false assurance if you may have been bitten by another. Delayed results can also delay treatment if you do have symptoms.

If you do contract Lyme disease, catching it early is key, Walsey said. If you don’t catch it early, it can get more serious and harder to treat.

“People that treat it early and treat it with the proper antibiotics, generally 80 to 90% of people will clear Lyme disease,” he said.

Some areas, like San Mateo County, offer free services like rodent, mosquito and tick inspections to help residents reduce the number of pests in their yards.

Where to hike in the Bay Area to reduce your chances of meeting a tick

While ticks sure feel like they’re everywhere in the Bay Area right now, there are some areas where it’s easier to avoid them in the spring:

• Redwood forests like Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in Oakland can be a good bet: The hiking trails here tend to be wide and cleared of brush underfoot.
• Wetland and tidal flat areas like Rush Creek Preserve in Marin County often have elevated gravel trails.
• Trails to mountaintops like Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Diablo, Montara Mountain and Mission Peak are often wide enough for fire access, so sticking to the middle of the trail may help avoid ticks.

Remember: A place being less likely to harbor ticks doesn’t mean you won’t still find one, but the trails above will at least be wider, making it easier to avoid coming in contact with ticks. Wherever you hike in spring, you should still do a tick check.