The summertime is a great time for hiking trips and exploring nature, but it is important for you to take precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones from tick bites.

Philadelphia Magazine’s Mary Clare Fischer and Laura Brzyski write that to protect yourself you need to know not only how to check for ticks, but what to do if you have been bitten.

Deer ticks and American dog ticks are the most active ticks in Pennsylvania. And they come with an increased risk of Lyme disease and other serious illnesses.

Pennsylvania has had the highest number of Lyme disease cases in the U.S. for ten of the past 11 years. Ticks and Lyme disease are present in all counties in the state, including Montgomery County.

The nymphal versions of both deer ticks and American dog ticks are as tiny as a poppy seed and the adults are the size of a sesame seed.

Blacklegged ticks are black (male) or red/orange (female). American dog ticks are brown with white or gray markings.

After you have been outdoors, even if it is just to the park with the kids and the dogs, you should check yourself and your loved ones and pets for ticks before going inside.

Ticks like warm, moist areas with thin skin where they can easily attach. Always check your armpits, your groin area, the backs of your knees, in your belly button and behind your ears.

If you have a pet, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises you look around the ears, tails, and eyelids for ticks. Also under their collars, front legs, and between their back legs and toes.

Not all ticks spread disease, so it is important to get the tick tested if you have been bitten.

Read more about how to protect yourself from ticks in the Philadelphia Magazine.

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Learn how to properly remove a tick.