Prevention.
It mostly works.

Ticks crawl. They climb up. They look for skin. The clothing strategy is to make them visible while they’re still on the fabric, and to make the climb to skin as long as possible.

• Wear light colours. A nymph is dark, the size of a poppy seed, and lost on dark fabric. On a tan or beige pant leg, the same nymph looks like a moving comma.
• Long sleeves, long pants, tucked in. Trouser cuffs into socks, shirt into trousers. The extra inch of fabric is the difference between a tick on your sock and a tick in your armpit.
• Closed-toe shoes. Sandals and flip-flops are the easiest possible entry to skin. Gaiters help in really brushy terrain.
• Skip the bug net for ticks — it doesn’t help. Head nets are useful against mosquitoes and black flies, not ticks. Ticks climb from the ground, not the air.

Health Canada’s preferred repellent for tick protection is Icaridin (also sold as picaridin in the US). It works against ticks, mosquitoes, and biting flies, has a better skin-feel than DEET, doesn’t damage plastics or synthetic fabrics, and is recommended for children as young as six months at the right concentration.

Permethrin is a synthetic insecticide derived from chrysanthemums. Sprayed on clothing it binds to the fabric and kills any tick that walks on it. Treated trousers, socks, and gaiters survive about 6 washes before needing re-treatment. Pre-treated clothing (Sawyer, Insect Shield) holds up for 70+ washes.

Most people picture ticks in deep forest. They’re actually concentrated in transition zones — the messy edges where one habitat meets another.

Ticks need humidity to survive. The driest, sunniest places are the safest; the dampest, shadiest leaf litter is where they accumulate.

The single most effective prevention step is the body check after. A blacklegged tick has to be attached for roughly 24 hours before it can transmit Lyme. A check in the first hour and another the next morning catches almost every one.

1. 1
   Clothes go in the dryer first.Tumble dry on high heat for 10 minutes. Heat (not the wash) kills ticks; washing alone often doesn’t. If clothes are wet, add an extra 10 minutes of high heat.
2. 2
   Shower within two hours. Studies show showering soon after exposure reduces Lyme risk meaningfully. Crawling ticks wash off; attached ones become easier to spot.
3. 3
   Full body check — twice.Once in the bathroom after the shower; once the next morning in good light. Use a mirror, or a partner, for the spots you can’t see. Pay extra attention to behind the ears, scalp, neck, armpits, navel, waistband, behind the knees, and the groin. Nymphs love warm, hidden, slightly damp spots.
4. 4
   Check the dog. Run a flat hand slowly through fur in the same spots — ears, between toes, armpits, groin, base of the tail. Engorged ticks on dogs feel like small grapes.

• In the field — how ticks find you, what to do mid-outing.
• Tick identification — four Canadian species and which carry what.
• For pet owners — dog-specific protocols and product recommendations.