PRESTON, Minn. (KTTC) -- With the warm weekend temperatures, many took to the great outdoors for their camping excursions. But were campers prepared for the occasion? The cases of Lyme Disease from tick bites are slightly on the rise.
It's not the wood ticks campers should be on the lookout for, it's deer ticks. Summer isn't just the season for camping, "there's a season for ticks, so earlier in the spring when things first warm up, right after the snow melts and especially in grassy areas ticks are very active and very prominent," said Historic Forestville Mystery Cave State Park Manager Mark White.
White has worked for the Minnesota DNR for more than 30 years. He says he understands the dangers of deer ticks that may carry Lyme Disease. "Symptoms that mimic flu and the nausea, fever, and things like that...get to the doctor," said White. "You can duct tape you pant legs or tuck in your socks. There's less likelihood a tick will get into your legs and on to you skin that way. And then always, if you are out in areas that have ticks, when you get home... check yourself," he said.
Just next to the State Park we bumped into one woman's close encounter. "This is a deer tick that my youngest daughter had crawling on her pant leg after she was Morel hunting in the area," said Historic Forestville Minnesota Historic Society Site Director Sandy Scheevel.
Her daughter used the critter as an example of what to watch for. "She took it off and put it he her little water bottle. So that we would have an example and we could show people," said Scheevel.
When a Lyme Disease carrying tick bites, it leaves a very distinctive red bulls-eye rash. mark. However, it's not stopping Scheevel from getting out and about. "Even when I walk in the woods, I try to stay covered and use repellents," she said.
