Minnesota is a wonderland of lakes, rivers, woods, streams, and swamps. It all makes for the perfect breeding grounds for creepy crawlies like mosquitoes and ticks. Thanks to a winter with heavy snow, and a gradual warm up this spring, Minnesota might be in for a huge surge of ticks this year. According to PestWorld's Bug Barometer, a warm, dry summer won't help the cause.

Minnesota is actually home to over 10 different tick species, but the most common are deer and wood ticks. They thrive in forested areas where there is a humid leaf cover in the summer. Sound like a place you know?

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Central Minnesota is actually one of the most likely places in the state to contract Lyme Disease, the most common tick born illness. In 2017 there were 1,408 confirmed cases reported across the whole state.

If you spend a lot of time outdoors there are a few things you can do to protect yourself from getting bit by these disease carrying pests.

  • Use bug spray with DEET in it
  • Consider a separate set of outdoor clothing sprayed down with insect repellant
  • Always check yourself and pets for ticks, if bitten monitor the bite
  • Use a form of flea and tick protection on your animals

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