The warm weather we have had is bringing an earlier tick "season" generally April, May and again in the fall September and October. There are areas where ticks do not follow these months. The black-legged tick, formerly called the deer tick, has the potential to carry lyme disease. The infected tick transmits the bacteria that causes lyme disease while it is taking a blood meal from the dog. The tick shown was taken from a dog a few days ago and will be sent to a lab for testing.

Ticks should be removed within 24 hours -if possible and preserved for us to see. If you are unable to get veterinary help, use strong tweezers and place them close to the dog's skin avoiding squeezing the tick's body. Pull straight up without twisting, firmly but slowly to allow you to remove the entire tick including the mouth parts.

Ticks love wooded, marshy areas with tall grasses. Ticks come to the top of the tall grasses waiting for an unsuspecting host to walk by. There are  preventive measures that can be taken - products that prevent the tick from staying on the pet and vaccines against lyme disease.