Gotta add to this. I've hunted, camped, and fished in MN all my life. Never saw a deer tick until 10 years ago. Now they are all over in some areas. I seriously debated living in the country with kids just because of the ticks. In my yard I control them with chickens just like others have mentioned. That really works around the house. I do a lot of walking and working outside. Some years I find 2 or 3 deer ticks on me all year. Other years every time I walk in the grass along a wooded area I find 2 or 3 deer ticks. I did get lymes about 5 years ago. I found a tick on me the day after being in the woods. I neglected checking myself just one time and sure enough I got bit. I had the bullseye rash so I got treatment, 2 weeks on antibiotics. If you get treatment ASAP it's usually very successful. We've all got pretty good at finding the little buggars by checking our pant legs every 5 minutes. They always latch onto you from ankle to knee height. If you check you pant legs regularly you can keep them all off. They are most common in early spring and October. Don't see too many in the heat of summer. Around here they give you treatment every time you get bit because the rash only occurs in 25% of cases. I've done extensive reading on the subject so I know how to protect my family. There is no test that can positively diagnose lymes unless you know exactly when you got infected. You need to know the duration of the infection to know what antibodies to look for I think. During warm weather everyone in my family does a tick check before bed time. No one else in my family has ever been bitten.
