A mild winter will likely lead to an active tick season

After a mild winter, this tick season could be rougher than usual.

"The black legged deer tick can be active all winter long on any day that is above freezing, so we've had a lot of those this past winter so they've probably been quite successful," Jonathan Larson, Extension Entomologist with the University of Kentucky, said. "Right now we are entering into the season where we see adult Lone Stars and adult American Dog ticks. So this April, May, June time period is kind of high tick season in the state of Kentucky."

This time of year comes with the threat of tick-borne illnesses as well.

"Kentucky has an interesting tick history," Larson said. "There are lots of different ticks here. It seems like the black legged deer tick is starting to become more common in the state, or at least we found in different areas and that is the only known vector for Lyme disease on this side of the country."

Ticks can transmit a plethora of diseases, but thankfully not COVID-19. If you do find a tick latched onto you, it's very important to remove it safely.

"Remove it with tweezers. Try not to burn it or pour alcohol on it or any of those things. If you do those things that can cause the tick to actually kind of vomit into your blood, and that increases the likelihood that diseases could be transmitted to you," Larson said. "Once it's out of you, kill it however you want, get your revenge. But, when it's still plugged into you, take some care."

Wear long sleeves and pants, a bug spray with Deet, and have repellents for your dog too to decrease you chances of a tick bite in the first place.