Don't miss our next Grow Your Own Groceries, all about peppers! 🌶 🫑 June 12 at noon Central! (fb)

Are you seeing ticks in your area? 😱 We sure are! As the weather in Arkansas warms, ticks are coming out to play. Arkansas is well known for its abundance of ticks and its fair share of related illnesses. Of the tick-borne illnesses we see here, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis are the most frequently reported. We need to be aware of this as we go outside, whether it's visiting heavily wooded areas or our own backyards (for some of us, that's the same thing!). 🔎 How to check for ticks: (A) Check yourself, your children and pets frequently for ticks. (B) Wear light-colored clothing when in tick-infested areas, as dark ticks are more easily spotted against a light background. (C) After returning home, thoroughly inspect yourself with aid of a mirror. (D) Parents should check their children for ticks under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair. (E) Bathe or shower as soon as possible after returning from a tick-infested area to wash off crawling ticks and locate attached ticks. ❌ Promptly remove ticks when found. If a tick is removed within a few hours after attachment, the chance of that tick transmitting a pathogen is greatly reduced. How to remove ticks: (A) Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible. (B) Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth-parts easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal. (C) After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub or soap and water. (D) Examine gear. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats and day packs. (E) Tumble clothes in a dryer on high heat for an hour to kill remaining ticks. (Some research suggests that shorter drying times may also be effective, particularly if the clothing is not wet.) (fb)