A dog tick (pictured) has white markings on its shield while a deer tick is much smaller with a solid black shield.  (Provided photo — Diane Chase)

It wouldn’t be the beginning of summer if I or a family member didn’t find a tick crawling on our body. It may be our love for the outdoors or that the local deer think my puppy is a fawn. (We were most recently followed on a walk by a young doe who wanted to play with our pup.) We make checking for ticks a part of our routine.

There are distinct differences between dog ticks and deer ticks. Dog ticks are about a 1/4″ in length, reddish brown with white markings while a deer tick is the size of a sesame seed. Both can carry infections, but a dog tick poses minimal risk to humans, while a deer tick can carry over 15 different diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control, deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks, can carry the bacterial Lyme disease. Lyme disease is most common in the upper midwest states, northeast and mid-Atlantic areas.

I’ve listed highlights from the CDC tick information list in the past, but I recently made huge mistakes when trying to remove a tick attached to my husband’s back. Please, “do as I say and not as I do.” Here are some reminders about black-legged ticks.

¯ Ticks don’t jump. They grasp a piece of grass with their hind “legs” and reach out in a movement called questing. They are ready to climb aboard when their next victim brushes through leaf litter, grasses and reeds.

¯ A deer tick completes its life cycle in two years. There are four stages of growth: egg, six-legged larval, eight-legged nymph and adult. The egg and larvae stages don’t pose a threat of infecting humans with Lyme disease. After hatching, a tick must have a blood meal for each life stage to survive. The tick lays eggs in spring, and the larvae hatch in summer.

¯ The larvae, which are the size of a speck of dirt, attach to a small host animal such as white-footed mice or chipmunks. The engorged larvae fall off their host and molt into nymphs in autumn. Ticks are not born with Lyme; they receive it from an infected host.

¯ The nymph and female adult ticks are responsible for transmitting Lyme disease. The following spring, nymphs actively search for their next blood host, most commonly the white-tailed deer. A nymph is the size of a poppy seed and can attach to humans, but due to its size, it may go unnoticed. An unfed adult female deer tick is about 1/8″ long with a reddish-orange body and a black shield behind its head. A male tick has one long shield, which limits its feeding capability.

¯ If you find an embedded deer tick on your body within 24 hours, the chance of infection is minimal. The tick doesn’t transfer the disease immediately. The tick cuts into its host to eat, inserts a feeding tube and commences to fill up on its blood meal. As it feeds, small amounts of saliva and regurgitated blood can be transmitted back into the host. If the tick is infected, that regurgitation enters the host’s bloodstream, spreading the bacteria.

¯ Getting any tick off your body as soon as possible is essential. Use fine-tipped tweezers, not your hands. Do not touch, squeeze or twist the tick. You could cause the tick to regurgitate blood and disease into your body. Gently grasp the tick and pull it straight out. It is crucial to make sure the tick’s head is removed. Monitor your health over the next few weeks and seek medical attention if a rash or flu-like symptoms develop.

I panicked when I found a tick embedded in my husband’s back while we were on vacation. We didn’t have any tools, and instead of waiting, I did everything wrong. I tried pulling the deer tick out with my hands. We ended up having a circle of vacationers weighing in on the tick extraction. Don’t be like me. We ended up in the emergency room, where a nurse asked who had caused all the damage: Me. Stay safe, and obviously, don’t ask me to remove a tick.