Moms Talk Q&A: How Do You Protect Your Family From Ticks

Summer is the perfect time for kids to hike and explore the open spaces in and around Benicia. Unfortunately, it's also the busy season for ticks. They just wait for animals or humans to walk through tall grasses so they can hitch a ride.

The longer rainy season this spring resulted in a population boost in the American Dog Tick, also known as a Wood Tick. That's bad news for hikers and particularly kids, who are closer to the ground and more likely to play in tall dry grasses.

Not only are ticks gross, but they can pose a serious health risk. Ticks are know to carry Lyme Disease, which mostly occurs in the Northeast and upper Midwest. According to the Center for Disease Control, cases of a tick-borne illness grew from 200 to 957 nationwide between 2000 and 2008. The infection anaplasmosis almost tripled while Rocky Mountain spotted fever quintupled. A new infection Southern Tick-associated Rash Illness (STARI) has spread in the South

On the Pacific coast, strains of an infection called rickettsiosis have sprung up. Non-Lyme tick diseases bring on fever, headache and muscle and joint pain, which can be misdiagnosed as flu or meningitis. The Solano County Health Department is working on a page dedicated to tick-borne diseases.

Solano Dogs recommends that dog-owners treat pets with drops that go on the back of the neck. For humans, they suggest pulling your socks over your pants and wear light colored clothes so you can better see the small ticks crawling on you.

The Tick Encounter Resource Center offers information on how to safely remove a tick with pointy tweezers, which are available at