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Ticks at Camp
Although your camper is unlikely to pick up a tick at camp, each summer usually a few campers do. Ticks are a part of the outdoors and campers should get in the habit of checking for them at home. Ticks are most active in late spring and the first part of summer. The vast majority of ticks at the Lafayette Reservoir are Pacific Coast Ticks, which are not a carrier of Lyme disease.
What to Do if You Find a Tick on Your Camper
If a tick is not attached and engorged (enlarged) due to feeding, it can be safely disposed. A tick needs to be engorged to have enough time to transmit the vector for Lyme disease. If the tick is engorged, follow the steps below to send it to us so we can identify it. If you are unsure if the tick is engorged or not, send it to us anyway.
- Place tweezers at base of tick’s mouth and pull the tick out from the skin.
- Put it in a zip lock bag along with a moist paper towel to keep it alive.
- Label the zip lock bag with your camper’s name, and date/time/location you found tick.
- Call/email our office that you have found a tick and send it with you camper the next day.
- We will send it to Contra Costa Vector Control to determine if it is a Western Blacklegged tick, the only carrier of Lyme disease.
- If a tick is identified as a Western Blacklegged tick, further testing is needed to determine if it carries and has transmitted the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. At this point, contact your doctor on the what the next best step is.
