quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
Fear of ticks has spoiled walks in the woods for me. I guess wide nature trails are safe if you avoid touching foliage at the margins.

I take my students (5-6 year olds) on walks in a conservation area connected to our school yard. Initially, I was required to keep them on the path because of ticks. I also had them tuck their pants into socks and we inspected every kid when we came back to the school. We found two ticks, both on clothing rather than skin. However, we have had several students come in from the school yard (in mown grass) with ticks on them. Because of that, we now have no restrictions on the conservation area. I still let grown ups know we are going and remind them to check kiddos at night but so far so good. Luckily, all the ticks that we have come across so far have been dog ticks. I expect the rules would change if deer ticks started popping up.