Yeah, tick checks are an everyday thing here. When I was growing up in No IL I never saw a tick. I spent the summer `69 in Texas outside of Ft. Worth and learned that tick checks were a part of coming inside after playing outside all day.

In all of my hikes in CA I never saw but one tick, that was near Castiac while hiking in the NF there.

Here, in the Spring, it's not uncommon to step into a nest of baby ticks and have hundreds crawling on you within a few seconds.

As much as I hate doing it, I now spray my outside work clothes with Permethrin. That stuff is amazing, and it is wonderful to be able to work outside without getting bit to smithereens. It's a trade off, but I've spent too many years being all bit up.