They’re tiny, clingy and hanging out on grass and shrubs near you.
Tick season in Colorado is here. And even though ticks are small, they can pack a dangerous punch.
“Ticks can carry multiple different infection-causing agents: bacterial, viral, parasites,” said Dr. Phaedra Fegley, a family medicine physician in Steamboat Springs and member of the medical staff at UCHealth. “Within minutes of biting you, they’ve released their saliva and whatever it’s carrying.”
Thinking about ticks may make your skin crawl, but read on so you can stay safe. Fegley outlines what you need to know when it comes to ticks and your health.
Key facts about ticks in Colorado
There are about 30 different species of ticks in Colorado, the most common of which are the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog tick. Tick activity peaks in spring and early summer, but ticks can be active throughout the year.
Altitude isn’t a safeguard. Ticks can live at elevations up to about 10,000 feet.
Tick-borne illnesses
In Colorado, the most common tick-borne illnesses are Colorado Tick Fever and Tick-borne Relapsing Fever. Despite its name, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is rare in Colorado.
Lyme disease is very common in the northeastern parts of the U.S. and can cause debilitating illnesses. In the past, only a handful of cases of Lyme disease were reported in Colorado, and none of these exposures originated in the state. But Lyme disease is spreading throughout the U.S.
View this map from experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows rising cases of Lyme disease as they’ve been spreading across the U.S. from 2000 to 2023.
Health experts note that there are limitations of surveillance data and problems with underreporting of Lyme disease. So, it’s wise to be cautious about all tick-borne illnesses.
“Symptoms may be subtle and feel like the flu. You may have body aches, fever and chills. Your joints feel terrible. But then it’s gone,” Fegley said. “And people’s immune systems can vary. One person may be very sick, while another may feel like they just have an illness for a couple of days.”
Steps for preventing tick bites and tick-borne diseases
Ticks live along forest edges, preferring to stay at the tops of plants or the tips of grasses so they can easily latch onto whomever or whatever passes near them. They can sense body heat, carbon dioxide, body odor and vibrations.
Here are some tips to avoid picking up a tick while you’re enjoying being outdoors:
- Wear tall socks or tuck your pants into your socks, and choose lighter clothing so dark ticks stand out.
- Cover your body. Wear a hat and dress in long sleeves and long pants. (You can dress in layers and wear loose clothing so you don’t get too hot on a vigorous hike.)
- Consider wearing clothes that are treated with permethrin or DEET to repel ticks.
- Use bug repellants, including those with DEET or essential oils such as oil of lemon eucalyptus.
- Here is information on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents, and a helpful search tool to find the repellent that’s right for you.
- If you’re using sunscreen, apply it first, then insect repellent.
- Always check yourself for ticks after being outdoors.
“As soon as you’re home, throw your clothes in the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes to dislodge or kill any ticks,” Fegley said. “Shower and do a tick check, starting with your scalp and working your way down to check all the crevices of the body.”
In addition to preventing ticks from getting on your body or clothes, you can also reduce the number of ticks in your yard if you live in an area that’s hospitable to them.
Fegley advises people to pick up trash in their yards and mow their lawns regularly.
And take steps to keep ticks off of pets, which can carry ticks indoors.
Tick removal
If you find a tick on your body, it’s vital to remove it as quickly as possible. But you also need to do so carefully.
Here are the key tips from Fegley and experts at Colorado State University for removing a tick:
- If possible, use tweezers and pull the tick straight up. “Be careful not to squeeze the body or crush the head, as you can squirt more of its saliva into your body,” Fegley said.
- If you’re out in nature and you don’t have tweezers, try using your fingernails. If possible, cover your fingers with a tissue, a little piece of plastic or a sanitary wipe to avoid infecting yourself.
- Grasp the tick as close to your body as possible, then quickly pull it straight out. You want to be sure to pull out the tick’s full body, including the head. This can be tricky because ticks dig their heads into our bodies to feed. They also clamp their feet into their hosts.
There are many myths about removing ticks. But you need to be careful because some of these methods either don’t work or can be dangerous.
When removing a tick, do not:
- Squeeze, crush or twist the tick.
- Use substances like petroleum jelly, nail polish, alcohol or shampoo. These methods can be too slow or can make the area slippery, which can make it harder to pull the full tick’s body out of your body. The key to removing a tick is to get the full tick out of your body as fast as possible.
- Use a flame. It’s true that a tick bite can make you sick, so you want to get it out. But you don’t want to also burn yourself. So, do not hold a match or lighter close to your skin to try to remove a tick.
When to see a doctor about a tick
Since ticks are small, it’s easy to miss them.
“But if someone says, ‘I’ve been out hiking in the woods and three to 10 days later, I came down with this horrible illness,’ it’s worth seeing your medical provider and getting tested,” Fegley said.
Some people worry so much about ticks that they avoid being outdoors. You don’t need to do this. It’s wonderful and healthy to enjoy the outdoors. Just take steps to ward off ticks and always do a tick check afterward, and you’ll be fine.
“Take steps to prevent bites and check yourself after being outside,” Fegley said. “Ticks shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the outdoors.”
For more information about ticks and preventing tick bites, Fegley recommends learning more about Colorado Tick Fever. While bug repellants don’t always work against ticks, you can read the Environmental Working Group’s recommendations about safe repellents.
Do I need to worry about ticks on my pets?
Pets also are at risk for ticks and can get many of the same diseases as humans, along with a few that are unique to animals, said Dr. Andrew Ciccolini, a veterinarian and medical director of primary care at Colorado State University Veterinary Health Systems.
In Colorado, the concerning diseases animals can get from ticks include:
- Anaplasmosis (dogs).
- Ehrlichiosis (dogs).
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever (dogs and humans; not very common in Colorado).
- Lyme disease (dogs and humans; less common in Colorado than in the Northeast).
These diseases tend to cause symptoms in pets similar to those seen in humans.
Symptoms of tick-related diseases in your pet include:
- Lethargy
- Fiebre
- Limping or joint pain
- Pérdida de apetito
- Ganglios linfáticos inflamados
“It’s important to know that infected pets don’t always show symptoms right away,” Ciccolini said.
These “subclinical” infections may resolve on their own without causing problems, but in other cases they can lead to serious health issues later. For that reason, it’s important to identify and treat them early.
“If you find ticks on your pet, speak with your veterinary team about the best time to follow up on any testing,” he said.
Outdoor animals, such as backyard chickens, goats or rabbits, also are vulnerable. Ticks can become a major problem for these species, Ciccolini said, making prevention especially important.
Cats are less commonly affected by ticks than dogs because they groom themselves frequently. However, ticks can still attach and transmit diseases like cytauxzoonosis, which is rare but very serious, Ciccolini said.
When using tick prevention methods on your cat, make sure it is a cat-safe product as many dog products are toxic to cats, he said.
Preventing ticks on your pets
“Ticks can be surprisingly small, especially in the nymph stage, which makes them difficult to detect,” Ciccolini said. “They often go unnoticed until they’ve grown larger after feeding on your pet.”
For this reason, prevention is a better strategy.
But do tick collars and shampoos actually work? Ciccolini said there is no straightforward answer, as it very much depends on the product.
- Modern tick collars — flumethrin/imidacloprid-based — are highly effective for several months and are best for continuous prevention.
- Tick shampoos work differently. They kill ticks that are on your pet at the time of bathing, but don’t provide long-term protection.
- The Companion Animal Parasite Council offers a helpful “quick product reference guide” that helps you find recommended products for your animal and the parasites you’re trying to prevent.
“Many tick products don’t repel ticks. Instead, the tick must bite your pet before the product kills it,” he said.
With these products, you may still find a tick on your pet, but the product should kill that tick fast enough that it doesn’t have time to transmit a disease.
Ciccolini said your veterinarian is a great resource in knowing what product might be the most effective and safest for your pet.
And even if you focus on prevention, you should still do a “tick check” on your pet regularly using the feel method, rather than relying on sight.
How to do a tick check on your pet:
- Run your hands slowly over your pet’s entire body, feeling for small bumps or pea-sized lumps.
- Pay special attention to:
- Ears (inside and behind)
- Around the eyes and lips
- Neck/collar area
- Armpits and groin
- Between toes
- Base of tail
- On long-haired pets, part the fur down to the skin.
What happens if you find a tick on your pet?
You want to make sure you safely remove a tick from your pet, just as you would do with a human.
“Pulling a tick off incorrectly can cause the body to detach while the head remains embedded in the skin, which can lead to irritation or infection,” Ciccolini said.
He said the easiest way is to buy a tick-removing tool, which is inexpensive and effective.
How to safely remove a tick from your pet:
- Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool.
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull straight out with steady pressure (don’t twist).
- Clean the area with alcohol or soap and water.
- Wash your hands.
When removing a tick, avoid:
- Burning the tick.
- Using petroleum jelly or oils (these can increase disease transmission).
What to remember when it comes to keeping your animals safe from ticks:
- Routine inspection is key.
- Maintain clean, dry housing areas.
- Manage yards or pastures by reducing brush and tall grass where ticks thrive.
- Use species-appropriate parasite control products.
- Tick prevention is far easier than treatment.
- Colorado is not tick-free; risk is real, especially in the foothills and rural areas.
- Pets can act as sentinels for human risk — if your dog has ticks, your environment likely has them too.
- Year-round prevention is increasingly recommended as seasons shift.