Reported cases of Lyme disease skyrocketed last year. According to CDC figures, 16,798 New Yorkers were diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2022, compared to just 3,006 New Yorkers in 2021.

How can we avoid being bitten by a tick? SUNY ESF associate professor Brian Leydet said technically ticks can live anywhere, and they spend a lot of time in areas where animals are passing through.

So, if you’re heading outside, a good place to start is tall tucked-in socks, pretreated clothing and bug spray.

What You Need To Know

  • The number of ticks in your backyard or local park will likely increase in years to come

  • If you do get bit by a tick, pull it straight out with tweezers, and save the tick to bring to the doctor if you feel sick

  • The CDC says clearing tall grass, brush and leaf litter could reduce the ticks in your yard

Leydet often travels to wooded areas to search for ticks. He says it takes ticks two years to move through three life stages: larvae, nymph and adult.

“The female lays about 3,000 of the larvae. The larvae take a blood meal, and they molt into the nymphal ticks. And this tick has the potential of being infected with Lyme, probably a 50% shot,” said Leydet.

The number of ticks in your backyard or local park will likely only increase.

“If you have an area where you have low tick populations, it's important to try to keep it that way, because once they become established, we have no good measure at a large scale to eliminate them,” said Leydet.

He says the trend of warmer temperatures over time in upstate New York will only help the tick population grow.

“And the more favorable those conditions are, the more likely they'll make it through that life cycle, and the more likely they'll mate and support higher populations,” said Leydet.

He added that the growth of ticks in upstate New York over the last two to three decades is a product of climate change.

“How do you experience climate change? Well, if you're from the area, talk to your parents or grandparents that lived here and [find] they didn't have ticks," Leydet said. "Now we do. Climate change, right there. That's them experiencing an effect of climate change. So it's a combination between tick populations increasing and then the contact between humans and ticks. And that's where we start seeing increases in disease.”

Leydet also said if you do get bit, pull it straight out with tweezers and save the tick. If you start feeling flu symptoms or notice a rash in the next two or three weeks, bring that tick to the doctor.

The CDC has advice on how to keep ticks out of your yard. Simple things like clearing tall grass, brush and leaf litter can help. You can also use wood chips or gravel as a barrier between lawns and wooded areas. And if you have a patio or playground, put a 3-foot-wide barrier around that as well.