Tick Season in Maine. The Best Way the Remove Them [VIDEO]

Last summer I had to check my pets every day for ticks, and I found way too many. I keep them dosed with Frontline but my cat still managed to come home with them. Time to go on high alert because tick season has returned to Maine and New Hampshire! I learned from an outing with my daughter's Girl Scout troup about tick spoons. They are neat and cheap, get them at your vet's office so that you don't have to touch them when you remove ticks from your pets, or yourselves! Avoiding ticks is important, because they can carry Lyme disease and transmit it to humans as well as pets.

The basics to preventing tick bites:

• Wear light colored clothing so that you can more easily spot ticks.
• Wear long pants and tuck them into your socks so that ticks can't get to your skin.
• DEET and Picaradin are effective repellents, but read labels carefully before using them!
• Talk to your vet about tick prevention for your pets. Products like Frontline and K9 Advantix are available to help ward them off.

Here's a video about removing ticks. You can't just pull them out! Learn how to do it properly to avoid infection and Lyme Disease. It's important that the tick's head isn't left in the skin, always disinfect the area very well after removal!

The University of Maine made this next video. It shows you how to remove a tick with tweezers or a tick spoon. I never have a little jar available to dispose of the tick, so I put them in zip lock bags with a little rubbing alcohol.

If you've never removed a tick, and you're hanging in Maine or New Hampshire, then it's time to put on those Big Boy Pants and learn how! It's important information when you need it!

Celeste