A bad year for ticks? Take steps to protect yourself

Ticks! I can’t stand these parasitic arachnids. I have had far too many run-ins with ticks throughout my life. They seem to find me every year. So far this spring I have found one lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) attached to me and I have caught several other ticks headed my way looking for a bite to eat.

Fortunately, lone star ticks are not known to transmit Lyme disease, but there are plenty of other ailments they can impart to their human host. One such affliction is the dreaded alpha-gal syndrome that makes humans allergic to red meat.