Massachusetts should have a slogan entitled “Ticks on Parade.” It’s been a rough spring for tick activity so far this year.
Though I haven’t had any ticks on me, there was a situation that came close for my daughter (age 6). She loves going to the park right by our house, which is about a 1-2 minute walk. While she enjoys going on the slide and swings, she really enjoys grabbing sticks off the ground. She gives each stick a name, and she runs around with them in her hands. While I’m happy that she’s happy doing this (it’s cheap entertainment for her), I have to keep a very close eye on her.
Some woods surround the park, and she likes to pull the sticks from the edge of those woods. However, I have seen ticks crawling on the sticks throughout the woods, and there was one instance where a tick got in her hair, which I quickly was able to remove because again, I was watching like a hawk. Now, when we are at the park, I have to keep her away from the edge of the woods, as I don’t want to take any chances…