It’s tick season in Nebraska, here’s what you need to know to avoid bites, disease

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - It’s tick season in Nebraska and at the same time, more and more people are getting outside thanks to nice weather and COVID-19 vaccines.

UNL’s extension office told 10/11 NOW there aren’t more ticks than normal, but they are seeing more people calling in saying they’ve seen them.

“Ticks peak in Nebraska in May and June and people are noticing them,” Kait Chapman, extension educator with the UNL Extension Office said. “The most important thing we can do is to prevent tick bites. "

This is because ticks carry diseases.

“You can wear Deet up to 30%, you can wear treated clothing, long pants if possible and after you spend time outside you’ll have to check yourself for ticks,” Chapman said.

You also need to check your pets.

“Check their ears, behind their ears, under the belly in the armpit area and sometimes the back legs,” Dr. Jody Jones, veterinarian at Cotner Pet Care said.

While there are a lot of medications or repellents to keep ticks off cats and dogs, they aren’t always effective at protecting humans.

“A tick can be crawling on the fur or have not attached to your pet and then you can pet the dog and it can get on you,” Jones said.

If a tick bite does happen, the extension office said you should either keep the tick or take a picture of it so they can identify it if you or a pet start showing symptoms of disease.

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