They’re tiny, clingy and hanging out on grass and shrubs near you.

Tick season in Colorado is here. And even though ticks are small, they can pack a dangerous punch.

“Ticks can carry multiple different infection-causing agents: bacterial, viral, parasites,” said Dr. Phaedra Fegley, a family medicine physician in Steamboat Springs and member of the medical staff at UCHealth. “Within minutes of biting you, they’ve released their saliva and whatever it’s carrying.”

Thinking about ticks may make your skin crawl, but read on so you can stay safe. Fegley outlines what you need to know when it comes to ticks and your health.

Key facts about ticks in Colorado

There are about 30 different species of ticks in Colorado, the most common of which are the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog tick. Tick activity peaks in spring and early summer, but ticks can be active throughout the year. Altitude isn’t a safeguard. Ticks can live at elevations up to about 10,000 feet.

Tick-borne illnesses

In Colorado, the most common tick-borne illnesses are Colorado Tick Fever and Tick-borne Relapsing Fever. Despite its name, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is rare in Colorado.

Lyme disease is very common in northeastern parts of the U.S. and can cause debilitating illnesses. In the past, only a handful of cases of Lyme disease were reported in Colorado, and none of these exposures originated in the state. But Lyme disease is spreading throughout the U.S.

View this map from experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows rising cases of Lyme disease as they’ve been spreading across the U.S. from 2000 to 2023.

Health experts note that there are limitations of surveillance data and problems with underreporting of Lyme disease. So, it’s wise to be cautious about all tick-borne illnesses.

“Symptoms may be subtle and feel like the flu. You may have body aches, fever and chills. Your joints feel terrible. But then it’s gone,” Fegley said. “And people’s immune systems can vary. One person may be very sick, while another may feel like they just have an illness for a couple of days.”

Steps for preventing tick bites and tick-borne diseases

Ticks live along forest edges, preferring to stay at the tops of plants or the tips of grasses so they can easily latch onto whomever or whatever passes near them. They can sense body heat, carbon dioxide, body odor and vibrations.

Here are some tips to avoid picking up a tick while you’re enjoying being outdoors:

• Wear tall socks or tuck your pants into your socks, and choose lighter clothing so dark ticks stand out.
• Cover your body. Wear a hat and dress in long sleeves and long pants. (You can dress in layers and wear loose clothing so you don’t get too hot on a vigorous hike.)
• Consider wearing clothes that are treated with permethrin or DEET to repel ticks.
• Use bug repellants including those with DEET or essential oils such as oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Always check yourself for ticks after being outdoors.

“As soon as you’re home, throw your clothes in the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes to dislodge or kill any ticks,” Fegley said. “Shower and do a tick check, starting with your scalp and working your way down to check all the crevices of the body.”

In addition to preventing ticks from getting on your body or clothes, you can also reduce the number of ticks in your yard if you live in an area that’s hospitable to them.

Fegley advises people to pick up trash in their yards and mow their lawns regularly.

And take steps to keep ticks off of pets, which can carry ticks indoors.

Tick removal

If you find a tick on your body, it’s vital to remove the tick as fast as possible. But you also need to do so carefully.

Here at the key tips from Fegley and experts at Colorado State University for removing a tick:

• If possible, use tweezers and pull the tick straight up. “Be careful not to squeeze the body or crush the head, as you can squirt more of its salvia into your body,” Fegley said.
• If you’re out in nature, and you don’t have tweezers, try using your fingernails. If possible cover your fingers with a tissue, a little piece of plastic or a sanitary wipe to avoid infecting yourself.
• Grasp the tick as close to your body as possible, then quickly pull it straight out. You want to be sure to pull out the tick’s full body, including the head. This can be tricky because ticks dig their heads into our bodies to feed. They also clamp their feet into their hosts.

There are many myths about removing ticks. But you need to be careful because some of these methods either don’t work or can be dangerous.

When removing a tick, do not:

• Squeeze, crush or twist the tick.
• Use substances like petroleum jelly, nail polish, alcohol or shampoo. These methods can be too slow or can make the area slippery, which can make it harder to pull the full tick’s body out of your body. The key to removing a tick is to get the full tick out of your body as fast as possible.
• Use a flame. It’s true that a tick bite can make you sick, so you want to get it out. But you don’t want to also burn yourself. So, do not hold a match or lighter close to your skin to try to remove a tick.

When to see a doctor about a tick

Since ticks are small, it’s easy to miss them.

“But if someone says, ‘I’ve been out hiking in the woods and three to 10 days later, I came down with this horrible illness,’ it’s worth seeing your medical provider and getting tested,” Fegley said.

Some people worry so much about ticks that they avoid being outdoors. You don’t need to do this. It’s wonderful and healthy to enjoy the outdoors. Just take steps to ward off ticks and always do a tick check afterwards, and you’ll be fine.

“Take steps to prevent bites and check yourself after being outside,” Fegley said. “Ticks shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the outdoors.”

For more information about ticks and preventing tick bites, Fegley recommends learning more about Colorado Tick Fever. While bug repellants don’t always work against ticks, you can read the Environmental Working Group’s recommendations about safe repellents.