Are you watching out for tick nymphs? How to keep yourself safe from tick borne diseases

Bigger is better is not a phrase you would expect to be applied to ticks. Or any kind of parasitic bloodsucker for that matter. And while there's not necessarily such a thing as a good tick, are some are definitely worse than others and surprisingly, it's the small ones you have to worry about.

Ticks are everywhere in New England. And as Sam Telford, a professor of infectious diseases and global health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, told the USA Today Network in April, it's never going to be a good tick season, so people need to take precautions.

If you're careful, an adult tick of most species can be found before it bites and transmits Lyme or other tick-borne diseases.

But, the juveniles, or nymphs, can be no bigger than a grain of pepper, and still transmit the same things as an adult. And they're most active in June and July.

Here's what you need to know to protect yourself.

What ticks are the most common in New England?

The word nymph originates in Greek mythology as minor nature deities, responsible for protecting and maintaining an area such as a grove or woodland, that would often appear as beautiful women.

How this became the scientific term for the juvenile stage of some types of insects is unclear. "Look out for nymphs," before a walk in the woods is not the type of summer advice one could have expected to hear in the last couple thousand years but can certainly be used today. Ticks at the nymph stage are most active around June and July.

There are many types of ticks in New England, but the four most common are:

• the deer tick

• American dog tick

• brown dog tick

• Lone star tick.

All of which need a host for every stage of their life cycle, which means they can bite (and transmit diseases) at every age.

Does tick protection in your yard work? This study is trying to find out

What diseases do different types of ticks transmit?

The deer, or black-legged, tick is the one that transmits Lyme disease, which can have lifelong effects. These ticks can also transmit babesiosis, which infects red blood cells, and anaplasmosis, also called HGA, which effects white blood cells.

The American and Brown dog ticks pass on Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is rare in Massachusetts, but not unheard of.

The Lone star tick can transmit Alpha-gal allergy, which can cause an allergy to red meat.

Tick protection: How to protect yourself

Tick clothing: Going outside a tick prone area? Here's what to wear to protect yourself from ticks.

Luckily, tick bites - and all the associated problems - can be mitigated by taking relatively simple precautions before going outside. This doesn't mean for just hikes or dog walks in the woods, but gardeners, landscapers and anyone else who will be in close contact with plants outdoors should bear these tips from Telford in mind:

• tick repellent

• permethrin treated clothing such as socks, shirts and pants

• Wearing long sleeves and long pants

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: How to prevent tick bites: Look out for the little ones