CHENANGO COUNTY – Spring is finally here and many of us are looking to cure our cabin fever with some time spent outside. Whether you prefer hiking, camping, backpacking, geocaching, fishing, hunting, climbing, wildlife viewing, or gardening, you will want to keep tick prevention in mind.

Preventive measures should be used year round but particularly during the warmer seasons. We can always avoid brushy and wooded areas and stay in the center of the trail to reduce our chances of encountering ticks, but where’s the fun in that?

For those of us who like to explore, there are some steps that we can take to reduce the chance of having one of these unwanted visitors.

Our clothing choices can help prevent ticks from attaching to us. Wear long sleeve shirts and pants when possible. I myself wear nylon or polyester hiking pants. They are very lightweight and they dry fast in the event of rain.

Tuck in your shirt and tuck your pant legs into your socks to give ticks fewer entry points to reach your skin.

It can be helpful to wear light colored clothing as well so that it is easier to spot a tick crawling on the outside of your clothing.

There is some clothing that you can purchase with repellent built into the fabric. For those of you who don’t like chemicals there are new base layers out that are designed to protect against ticks and other biting insects.