Tick season begins this month in New York. If you haven’t seen one before now, consider yourself lucky.

The mild winter has them out and about and waiting for a ride on you or your pet.

When it gets warmer, they emerge and look for food. Where you find them depends on what species the tick is. The dog tick, for example, likes shrubs and likes to be closer to the ground. The black leg tick likes wooded areas and edge habitats. They tend to climb up higher.

How they end up on you is called questing.

“They'll find like the edge of a blade of grass or the edge of a twig, kind of grab on with some of their front legs out like this, waiting for somebody to go by," said Chuck Bartlett, supervising park ranger for Erie County. "And they often are able to see and sense in the infrared range, so they can see the heat of animals coming."

They can also sense the carbon dioxide that humans and animals breathe out. Once you're back from that outdoor excursion, check for ticks immediately.

They are a lot smaller than you think. They tend to hide behind ears, under armpits, in your groin area and behind knees.

If you find one, here’s how to remove it.

“Any kind of sharp naught pointed tweezer will work," said Nicole Klimowicz, Erie County park ranger. "You're basically to grab the end of the body and pull straight out so that the whole tick comes out. If you can't get the whole tick out, definitely recommended to seek any kind of medical help to make sure we get that all completely removed and then ultimately just get tested for Lyme disease, any kind of animal disease.”

If you have flu-like symptoms during May, June, July or August, for example, that should be a red flag. Also if there’s a bulls-eye mark where a tick has bitten, get checked.

Insect repellent is a good idea and wearing light-colored clothing and pants that you can tuck into boots is preferable. When on the trail, stay in the middle and stay on the path.

Once you've removed the tick, you can flush it, but it is preferred you put it in a plastic bag and take it to get tested, just to be sure it doesn’t have any disease.