If there’s anything that knows how to suck the fun out of life, it’s the 6- and 8-legged hellions that emerge this time each year.

And if you spend any time outdoors, you’re well-acquainted with every one of these a-holes.

But fear not, because as discommodious as they can be, there are a few strategies that can help you prepare for their summer shenanigans.

Ticks

Like death & taxes, ticks are one of the inevitable facts of life if you spend time outdoors.

But more than giving you the heebie jeebies, they’re also prone to giving you a raging case of the creepy crawlies.

Though they carry a number of diseases, including but not limited to babeiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, anaplasmosis & tularemia, one of the most common & worrisome is Lyme disease.

First recognized in the early 1980s, Lyme is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis).

While the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours to transmit the bacteria, they can be difficult to detect given their penchant for hanging out in areas that aren’t…shall we say…readily visible.

Even more, seed ticks (the larval form of ticks) are so tiny that they resemble specks of black pepper – diminishing the likelihood of finding them at all.

But the best offense is a good defense.

Though most advice includes wearing long pants & shirts and keeping them tucked in, that’s not realistic for most folks exploring the outdoors in 80+ degree weather.

But you can minimize your chances of having a tick embedded with a few steps.

• wear a repellent like DEET or picaridin. Remember that this won’t prevent them from getting on you, but might make it a little less appealing.
• better yet, treat your clothing with permethrin, which is an insecticide (i.e. it kills them). However, it’s important to remember that you DON’T apply it to your skin. Sawyer’s is one of the more popular brands among outdoor folks, and if you haven’t applied it before, check out Section Hiker’s tips here or you can buy pre-treated clothing if you’d prefer not to do it yourself.

In addition to clothing, there are a few behavioral tweaks you can make to both avoid & find ticks more easily:

• Stick to the trails, where you’re less likely to pick them up (unless you’re on a trail that’s very narrow, grassy, or poorly traveled)
• Be sure to check for ticks along your route – particularly after you brush up against vegetation or are seated for any period of time
• Keep a lint roller in your car and/or in your pack to catch any stragglers
• Check again when you get home, ditch your clothes in the wash & shower up
• Remember to check your shoes & backpack (+ any other gear) as well

If you DO find one embedded, ignore every bit of BS advice you’ve heard about using lighters, Vaseline, nail polish, or drowning them in those god-awful essential oils.

The only thing that nonsense will accomplish is burning or irritating your skin and/or stressing the tick.

And stressed ticks have a fun little response of regurgitating into the bite wound – which can increase the likelihood of being infected with whatever creepy baggage they happen to be carrying.

Once you’ve removed the tick, wash the area (and your hands) thoroughly & if you suspect that it’s been embedded for at least a day or more, follow up with your doctor about the best course of action.

Tabanids

While they may be more familiar to you as horse flies, deer flies, or green-eyed flies, members of the family Tabanidae have one thing going for them – they could teach us a thing or two about persistence.

But life coach credentials aside, these jerks may be one of the single most irritating aspects of life outdoors each summer.

While DEET can repel them, it doesn’t always prevent them from circling you incessantly, as if waiting for that one delicious spot of flesh you missed to reveal itself to them.

Short of bathing in the stuff – and STILL having to listen to their relentless buzzing – you might consider investing a few bucks in a deer fly patch.

Usually sold as a package of five in outdoor & garden shops, these patches are designed to be placed on the back of your hat. Which – it just so happens – is one of the favorite perching spots of our dear fly friends (see what I did there?).

But be forewarned, when the label warns you to keep it away from your hair, IT ISN’T MESSING AROUND. Though it may resemble duct tape, this shit is stronger than surgical glue.

If you have very short hair, you should be in the clear. But if you have a bun or a ponytail, believe me when I tell you that if the patch gets a hold of your golden tresses, you’ll have better luck prying a Transformer out of an angry toddler’s hand.

And I speak from experience when I say that the only possible solution to this quandary will be an impromptu haircut (fun times!).

The bottomline is that DEET will help repel them, and the patch will help catch at least some of the annoying bastards that won’t leave you alone.  BUT…be extremely careful to keep it FAR away from your hair (+ your skin) if you want to keep both in good order.

Mosquitoes & black flies

There’s nothing like a mosquito buzzing sweet nothings in your ear or having a black fly land smack in the middle of your eyeball to announce that summer is on its way.

There are just under 50 species of mosquitoes in New England, and only 4 or 5 species out of the 40 species of black flies in this region are considered “significant human biters or annoying.”

Uhhh…according to WHO?

Other than staying indoors, there isn’t much you can do to dodge these tiny beasts. Rather, the only other line of defense is killing or repelling them.

To do so, you can treat your clothing with permethrin (as described above), which will kill ticks as well as mosquitoes & black flies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work immediately, and it doesn’t dissuade them from biting you if they find your skin. So you might be better off combining it with a repellent like DEET to give you the best results.

If you do, opt for a concentration of at least 20% but no more than 30%. Anything more than that hasn’t been shown to offer better protection, deeming it unworthy of the extra risk of skin irritation.

Picaridin is another option, which is a favored alternative to DEET. It’s a synthetic, but it’s made to resemble piperine (an alkaloid in black pepper). It can be applied directly to the skin, and you can find it as wipes, sprays, or aerosols. It prevents mosquitoes from finding their hosts, and is known to repel ticks, chiggers & black flies.

If you’d prefer, you can also choose oil of lemon eucalyptus, which has shown to be nearly as effective as DEET but for a much shorter duration. In that case, you’ll have to apply it much more often, so be sure to consider this point if you’ll be in the woods or especially in the water for long periods.

Unfortunately, the ever-popular citronella & sonic repellents are about as effective as blasting the AC with your windows open, so don’t waste your time or money on them.

If you can’t or choose not to wear DEET or other repellents, you can also wear long pants, long sleeves & a hat to keep your skin covered. Or, you can go full-throttle nature nerd by throwing on the ol’net. For hiking or fishing, it can be a bit annoying, but for yardwork where you’ll be moving slowly or standing still for long periods, it can be a lifesaver.

And if all else fails, you can also carry a hand-held “bug zapper,” which you can pick up at outdoor stores like Lowe’s, tractor supply shops, or purchase online. While I don’t find them all that practical for hiking with poles or kayaking, it’s still an option for times when you’ll be seated or camping.

Chiggers

You may be less familiar with these turdbuckets if you’ve never been down south, but they are arguably making their way north. So it’s not unreasonable to think that they may arrive in New England in the coming years.

Members of the arachnid family, chiggers are immature stages of mite species that occur most frequently in grassy, brushy & overgrown areas. Though they’re present year-round, they’re most active in early summer.

While they don’t feed on blood, they are similar to ticks in that they burrow into your skin. Where they differ, however, is that they release digestive enzymes that liquefy your skin cells & then sip on that delightful slurry.

Unfortunately, not only is that idea creepy as all get out, but those enzymes irritate the living crap out of our skin – leaving you in a frenzy of itchy welts.

The best part is that you’ll never actually SEE them, so you won’t know if you’ve encountered them. The only thing you can do is assume you’ve been blessed with a visit if you’ve been frolicking on trails where you’ve passed through grassy or overgrown areas.

Just as with ticks, permethrin-treated clothing should kill them & DEET will help repel them. You can also choose a tightly-woven fabric to prevent them from reaching your skin as easily, and when you get home, be sure to shower & throw your clothes into the wash.

Despite your best efforts, you might find the tell-tale welts (especially behind your knees or around your hips), which will itch like a sonuvagun. At that point, you can try an anti-itch cream like Calamine or even take some Benadryl if you can handle it without becoming a twaddling zombie.

And for the love of PETE, please don’t use nail polish or any other nonsense suggested by old myths. The chiggers are no longer in your skin, and the polish won’t do a damn thing but irritate your skin even further.

Please note that if your allergic reaction to the bites is severe, or if you develop a secondary infection from the itching, a trip to your doctor may be in order.

Take-home Message

New England summers offer incredible hikes, superb kayaking, stunning views & so much more, but they don’t come without their fair share of sumbitches itchin’ to make you miserable.

While they’re doing their thing, you can keep doing yours – just be sure to plan properly to make the most of your outdoor adventures.