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A4 checklist with all illustrated steps. Tick the boxes on paper as you go.

FeatherSticks · Skills

Ticks & Mosquitoes: How to Avoid Ticks When Camping and Remove Them Safely

Ticks do not fall from trees – they wait in the grass at knee height.

Quick facts

Where ticks wait
Grass, bracken, undergrowth, forest edges – ankle to hip height
Daily routine
A 5-minute full-body tick check every evening
Removal tool
Fine pointed tweezers, tick card or tick hook
See a doctor
Expanding red rash, fever or flu-like symptoms in the weeks after

What you need

  • Fine pointed tweezers
  • Tick card or tick hook
  • Disinfectant wipes and plasters
  • Repellent labelled for ticks and mosquitoes
  • Long light-coloured trousers and long socks
  • Head net and brimmed hat
  • Mesh inner or bug net for tarp, tent or hammock
  • Headlamp for the evening check

Step by step

  1. Dress to keep ticks out

    1 Dress to keep ticks out

    Wear long, light-coloured clothing and closed shoes. Tuck trousers into socks and the shirt into the trousers so ticks stay on the outside.

  2. Use repellent as labelled

    2 Use repellent as labelled

    Apply a repellent that lists ticks and mosquitoes to exposed skin, thinly and evenly. Follow the label, especially for children.

  3. Pick a breezy camp, close the mesh

    3 Pick a breezy camp, close the mesh

    Camp on dry, open ground with a breeze, away from standing water and long grass. Sleep behind a mesh inner or bug net.

  4. Check everyone every evening

    4 Check everyone every evening

    Look and feel over the whole body: behind the knees, groin, waistband, armpits, navel, hairline and behind the ears. Check children and dogs too.

  5. Remove ticks promptly

    5 Remove ticks promptly

    Grip the tick right at the skin with fine tweezers or a tick card and pull slowly and steadily. No oil, no glue, no heat, no squeezing.

  6. Note the date, watch the spot

    6 Note the date, watch the spot

    Disinfect, write down date and place, and watch the bite for several weeks. An expanding rash, fever or flu-like symptoms mean: see a doctor.

Common mistakes

  • Looking up at the trees – ticks wait in grass and undergrowth and get on at leg height.
  • Putting oil, glue, nail varnish or alcohol on an attached tick, or burning it with a match.
  • Squeezing the tick body or tearing at it instead of gripping at the skin and pulling slowly.
  • Skipping the evening check because you "used spray" or "only walked on paths".
  • Dark trousers and sandals in long grass – nothing to see and nothing in the way.
  • Camping in a sheltered hollow beside still water and leaving the mesh open at dusk.
  • Forgetting the date of a bite and not connecting a rash or fever weeks later with it.