How to avoid ticks this summer in Saskatchewan

An American Dog Tick is seen in Chincoteague, Va., Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Spring and summer bring warmer weather but also pesky critters like ticks.

As people look to spend more time outdoors, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is providing a few tips and tricks on how to limit the risk of exposure.

“You can take simple steps to prevent and manage tick bites before and after going outdoors. While most tick bites don’t cause diseases, blacklegged ticks may cause Lyme and other tick-borne diseases and are showing up in places they haven’t before,” said Dr. Simon Kapaj, a Medical Health Officer with the SHA in a Thursday news release.

“You can protect yourself and your family against tick and insect bites by following simple measures when you spend time in an area where ticks may live.”

The SHA encouraged the following measures:

• Wear pants, long-sleeved shirts, and shoes that don’t show your bare feet.
• Tuck your pant legs into your socks to prevent ticks from crawling up your legs.
• Wear light-coloured clothes so ticks can be easily seen.
• Put on bug spray with DEET or Icaridin. Re-apply as directed on the product
• Stay on paths and avoid contact with tall grass and overgrown brush when hiking.
• Check yourself, children, and pets for ticks after being outside.
• Shower or bathe as soon as possible after being outside to wash off loose ticks.
• Regularly check household pets which go into tall grass and wooded areas.

The SHA says people with pets that are active in tall grass, brush and wooded areas should be especially vigilant.

The most commonly found ticks in Saskatchewan are the American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick – both part of the Dermacentor species.

The SHA says they’re usually most active in May and June but begin to retreat underground more in the warmer months of July and August.

How do you get ticks off you?

If you get bitten by a tick, the SHA advises the following measures:

• Carefully remove it with fine-tipped tweezers and grasp the parts of the tick as close to the skin as possible.
• Pull slowly upward and out with a firm steady pressure.
• Do not handle the tick with bare hands and be careful not to squeeze, crush or puncture the body after removal as this may also contain infectious fluids.
• Take a picture of the tick and submit it to eTick.ca for quick identification.
• Keep the tick in a secure container until you receive the identification results, as you may be asked to submit the tick - by mail - for further study. Ticks can be euthanized by placing them in a bag and storing them in a freezer for 24 hours.

What happens if you get Lyme disease

The SHA says Lyme disease risk is quite low in Saskatchewan as American dog ticks and wood ticks do not transmit it. It often comes from blacklegged ticks brought by migrating birds and other animals.

However, getting diagnosed with the disease can be difficult as symptoms may be similar to other illnesses, such as fever, chills, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes in its early stages.

Another early symptom is an expanding skin rash that looks like a “bull’s-eye”.

Later symptoms include more rashes, mental confusion, abnormal heartbeat, arthritis, and nervous system disorders.

The SHA advises people who suspect they might have Lyme disease to review their symptoms, find out if they were in an area at risk of having infected ticks, get a physical exam and order a laboratory blood test to check for antibodies.

Treatment for Lyme disease is most successful in its early stages and typically involves two to three weeks of using antibiotics.

Some people may experience symptoms lasting months to even years after treatment.