The ticks are terrible here too! I was walking the dogs on a PAVED trail which is only about 3/4 mile long around a prairie and we found 3 ticks walking on Vallis, one on Adele, and one in the car! I am very scared of them too, I have a lot of trouble looking at them, let along touching them! Yuck I am so glad I had someone with me not totally scared of them. I can pull them off but only if I don't touch them with my bare hand.