When is tick season on Long Island?

The CDC puts peak tick activity in the warmer months, April through September. The stage that matters most is the nymph. Blacklegged tick nymphs are active from May into July, they're tiny, and they cause the bulk of Lyme disease cases because people don't see them. Adults are active in spring and again in fall, and they'll come out on any warm winter day. Ticks don't jump or fly; they wait on the tips of grass and brush for a host to brush past (CDC).

New York has recorded more than 95,000 confirmed Lyme cases since 1986, plus rising babesiosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the state says these diseases are most frequently found on Long Island and in the lower Hudson Valley (NYS Department of Health). Deer density, wooded lots that run right up to lawns, and a long warm season make Nassau and Suffolk yards ideal tick habitat. Lone star ticks are now common on the East End and spreading west.

The CDC's list is specific and it works: remove leaf litter, clear tall grass and brush at the edges of the lawn, put a 3-foot barrier of wood chips or gravel between the lawn and any woods, mow often, stack firewood neatly in a dry spot, keep play sets and patios away from the yard edge and trees, and fence out deer. Use DEET or picaridin on skin and permethrin on clothing (NYS Department of Health), and shower within two hours of coming inside (CDC). A yard that already has a tick population needs a treatment of the habitat zones on top of that, and it's a seasonal knockdown, not a one-time fix.