Health : Watch out ticks about!

A tick is a tiny spider-like creature that lives on animals such as sheep or deer.

The main tick feeding season is late spring, early summer and autumn, when they can bite if you are walking through a tick infested area. Ticks can also be carried home by pets and dogs.

Some ticks can pass on the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Senior scientist at Public Health England, Maaike Pietzsch, explains how to avoid being bitten by a tick, what to do if you have been bitten and how to remove them.

Help our research by sending ticks found in the UK, to the tick recording scheme. For more information check out our website http://bit.ly/Nn2e3u with details of the tick recording scheme http://bit.ly/MeO1Vb