Are Ticks Already Ticking You Off This Year?

Those creepy crawlies are here again. No one likes them yet they arrive every spring just in time for outdoor play. They are - quite literally - the stuff of nightmares. We are talking about ticks.

Oh, how we hate them!

Long Islanders have an especially long and adversarial relation ship with the tiny arachnids. According to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Lyme disease - a bacterial infection caused by the bite of an infected deer tick - was first identified back in 1986 and can cause a number of health problems. There have been over 95,000 cases confirmed in New York State since that time.

If that's not bad enough, last year a tick was identified whose bite can cause a meat allergy in some cases. The animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals angered some Long Islanders when it announced in its official blog last April that they were going to release the meat-allergy inducing ticks. In 2012, Suffolk County formed a tick task force to study the spread of tick and vector-borne related diseases.

An interesting way to trim the tick population comes from nature itself. One Smithtown resident partnered with local schools to raise quails, which feed on ticks.

We asked on our Facebook page what readers' experiences with ticks has been like so far this year and ideas on how to control them. Here's what some of them said:

Michael Christopher Golod: Had many problems already. Have taken about 8 off my dog and one off my 6 year old. I have tried everything to stop them. Nothing can be done when they are using all the mammals in the area to feed and bread. Don't want to use chemicals because of the little ones.

Edyta Ptasinski Stapleton: Problem??? I had Lyme disease and three other infections from a tick that I never saw. Some are the size of a poppy seed. I almost died. I was totally bedridden for a month. I wad on IV antibiotics for 3 months and all manner of oral antibiotics for another 7 months. Some of the antimalarials (also used for tick infections) were almost $4,000 per bottle ( i needed 3 bottles). I wouldn't wish Lyme disease on anyone...

Lydia Bonilla: I know a great company who sprays. I understand not wanting to use chemicals but it's better than getting bite.

Add to the conversation here on Patch. Have you had a problem with ticks yet this season? What do you do when you find one? Have you had your yard sprayed? What method do you use?