Posted at: 04/18/2010 10:55 PM
Updated at: 04/19/2010 7:35 AM
By: Lorilyn Prestidge

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Tick Season Starts Early

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- If your next trip involves a walk through the woods be careful; tick season is here.

This year's season is a little different than in years past.

Ticks haven't been strangers to Gretchen Gade and her camping family.

"My sons who travel into the forest areas generally do have at least one of them every weekend," said frequent camper Gretchen Gade.

And this year tick season is already underway.

"We've had a lot of friends tell us that they've already have had multiple ticks on them," said Gade.

"It got warmer sooner so they're out a little earlier now," said MN DNR Conservation Officer, Tom Hutchins.

"We’re just very concerned that the ticks are getting an early start," said Freeborn County Public Health Director Lois Ahern.

An early start doesn't necessary mean tick season will be any worse but it does mean people need to be on the lookout now.

"In Minnesota, we are finding that the ticks that carry the tick born illnesses such as Lyme disease and Human Anaplasmosis are most commonly found in North Central, North East and South East Minnesota," said Ahern.

Not all ticks carry diseases, but last year a Minnesota girl died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

And there were more than a thousand cases of Lyme disease reported in the state in 2008.

"Lyme disease can cause a lot of joint pain, arthritis like pain and maybe some neurological symptoms so it is a serious illness," said Ahern.

Ticks hide in wooden areas and they can be a lot smaller than you may think one tick is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence.

"They have to be attached to your skin for at least 12 hours sometimes 48 hours before they transmit any illness, so immediately removing them is the best thing that you can do," said Ahern.

With two boys and a dog that's something Gretchen Gade is all too familiar with, that's why she is now trying to get ahead of the ticks.

"Always good to protect, always good to protect," said Gade.

You can protect yourself by using a repellent with DEET, wearing long pants, and checking yourself for ticks after being outdoors.