Do you know Ticks are not insects but belong to a class of spiders (arachnids)? They are not pests living inside the homes like mosquitoes and flies. They live in gardens and open areas, bushy outfields and such other foliage.

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There are two types of Ticks namely – soft Ticks and hard Ticks. The most common type is the hard Tick, nicknamed as “castor bean” or “sheep”.

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Ticks have a totally different way of hunting. They wait calmly sitting on the tip of grass and latch on their prey when they cross their path. The preys include our pets or animals in the forest, as also human beings when they go out in the yard, for any purpose.

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Controlling Tick is somewhat a difficult proposition since these critters are very small in size. They are not visible to the eyes at a glance. Only after Ticks bite and cause irritation, does anyone find out the Tick on their skin and crush them to death. But once they bite, the damage is done already.

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Although there are many diseases identified as caused by Tick bites, the symptoms do not appear all of a sudden. It takes some time to realize that the Tick bite has caused disease in human beings.

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Researches on Tick bites have found out that Ticks cause various diseases related to the outer skin, and some of them are very serious. The most infamous contagious disease is Lyme disease and another by the name Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

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You can guard yourself against getting Tick bites if you avoid walking without a guard on the shrubs, tall-grass areas, and leaf litter. Chemicals and strong repellants can be sprayed on the bushy scrub areas.

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As of now an innovative method of releasing the animals' Opossums in the Tick spread areas is gaining popularity. Actually, these animals eat up Ticks very fast – a single animal can eat nearly 5,000 Ticks in a year.

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The Ticks are always on a blood hunt. So you have to check for the presence of Ticks on your pets systematically, every now and then. The checkup should be done patiently since the Ticks are not visible easily. Applying repellents and soaps harmless for the pets is advisable.

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As for your protection, it is better to use tweezers to take out the Ticks from your body parts. Also, you should wash up immediately after walking around susceptible Tick infested areas. Wash carefully your body parts such as armpits, legs, inside groin, hairline, behind knees, inside and behind ears etc.

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In Summary, prevention is better than a cure for Tick bites. So be careful not to go near Tick-infested areas always.