Tick Safety for South Shore Hikers: What to Do (and What Not to Do)

Tick Safety for South Shore Hikers: What to Do (and What Not to Do)

If you’ve spent any time on South Shore trails, you already know that ticks come with the territory. Massachusetts consistently ranks among the highest-risk states in the country for Lyme disease — the MA Department of Public Health reported nearly 8,900 probable Lyme cases in 2024 alone, and tick activity has been trending upward for years. The good news: a few smart habits before, during, and after a hike go a long way.

Here’s what you need to know.

Before You Hit the Trail: Prevention First

The best tick encounter is the one that never happens. Before heading out:

  • Wear light-colored clothing so ticks are easy to spot before they find skin.
  • Tuck pants into socks and wear long sleeves when walking through dense vegetation or tall grass.
  • Apply EPA-registered bug repellent — products containing DEET, picaridin, or permethrin (on clothing, not skin) are most effective. The EPA’s Find My Repellent tool can help you pick the right one.
  • Hiking with kids? The CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics consider DEET safe for children over 2 months old, capped at 30% concentration — the same upper limit as for adults. Lower concentrations (around 10%) protect for about 2 hours, so pick a strength based on how long you’ll be out, and always follow the product label.
  • Stay on the trail. Ticks don’t jump or fly — they wait on tall grass and low brush and latch on as you brush past. Sticking to the center of marked paths significantly lowers your exposure.

Gear Up: Tick Safety Essentials

A few inexpensive items can make a real difference. Here’s what’s worth keeping in your trail bag and at home:

During and After: The Tick Check

Do a full body check as soon as you get home — and check your kids and pets too. Ticks tend to hide in easy-to-miss spots: behind the knees, in the groin, around the waistband, in the hairline, and behind the ears. Dogs and cats are just as much a target, so give them a once-over as well, paying extra attention to ears, between toes, and around the collar.

Toss your clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes before washing. Heat kills ticks that clothing washing alone won’t.

If You Find a Tick: How to Remove It Safely

Speed matters. The sooner a tick is removed, the lower the risk of disease transmission — most tick-borne pathogens require the tick to be attached for 24 to 36 hours before transmission becomes likely.

Watch the CDC’s tick removal video for a visual walkthrough:

Do: Use fine-tipped tweezers

Grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible — you want to get the mouthparts, not just the body. Pull upward with slow, steady pressure. Don’t jerk or twist, which can cause the mouthparts to break off and stay embedded in the skin. If that happens, don’t panic: your body will usually push them out on its own, though there is some infection risk.

After removal, clean the bite area thoroughly with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

Don’t: Use heat or home remedies

You may have heard that touching a lit match or hot needle to a tick will cause it to back out. Skip it. Heat doesn’t reliably cause ticks to withdraw, and it can cause them to inject saliva — which is exactly what you don’t want. The same goes for petroleum jelly, nail polish, and other suffocation methods. Tweezers, steady pressure, close to the head. That’s the move.

Disposing of the Tick

Don’t crush it with your fingers. Instead:

  • Drop it in a small amount of rubbing alcohol to kill it
  • Seal it in a zip-lock bag or tape it up and toss it in the trash
  • Flush it down the toilet

Consider getting it tested. If you want to know what the tick may have been carrying, the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology (TickReport) offers tick testing by mail for $50–$200 depending on the panel. Results typically come back within 24–48 hours of the lab receiving your sample. Massachusetts residents can also hand-deliver ticks to the Amherst lab. A positive tick result doesn’t mean you’ve been infected, but it gives you and your doctor useful information.

Know the Symptoms: When to See a Doctor

Most tick bites don’t require a doctor visit — but some do. Watch for the following in the days or weeks after a bite:

  • Fever or chills
  • A bull’s-eye rash (a red ring spreading outward from the bite site)
  • Any new rash
  • Headache or fatigue
  • Joint pain or swelling

If you notice any of these, call your primary care doctor and tell them about the bite — when it happened, where you were hiking, and how long you think the tick may have been attached. A photo of the tick helps too, which is another reason to document before disposing.

Even without symptoms, if you removed an engorged deer tick, it’s worth a call to your doctor.

The CDC’s Tick Bite Self-Triage Tool can help you figure out whether your situation warrants a visit.

A Year-Round Concern

Tick season on the South Shore isn’t just summer. Deer ticks (black-legged ticks) — the primary carriers of Lyme disease, babesiosis, and anaplasmosis in Massachusetts — are active any time temperatures are above freezing. Fall hikes carry real risk, and so do warm winter days. Build tick checks into your post-hike routine no matter the month.

Resources

South Shore Trails covers hiking and paddling destinations across 20+ towns on Massachusetts’ South Shore. For trail conditions, parking, and trail-specific details, browse our full trail directory.

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