INFORMATION

Ticks:

Ticks prefer to live in the woods. Dense, mature woods with a thick undergrowth of shrubs and small trees are their favorite habitat . They also are found, to a lesser degree, along the edge of the woods, where the woods meet lawns or fields. Very few are found in lawns, because properly mowed lawns are too hot and dry to sustain the tiny deer tick. Ticks prefer the cool, moist woodlands where they have a better chance of finding an animal host. 

Link to CT Tick Management Handbook.

http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/bulletins/b1010.pdf 

Lyme disease:

Lyme disease is the most feared of the tick borne diseases, transferred to humans by the bite of the deer tick, also called the black-legged tick. Ticks generally are infected with the disease through white footed mice, not deer. Working to eliminating deer from your property will not protect or eliminate the risk of Lyme. Estimates say that almost 80% of people who develop Lyme disease were infected by a tick right in their own yard. The illness causes a wide range of symptoms including a skin rash, fever, chills, meningitis, headaches, muscle joint pain, heart irregularities, facial paralysis, neurological disorders and pregnancy complications. When the tick attaches itself to a person it lakes up to 36 hours for the person to become infected.  It is therefore important to do "tick checks" regularly if you have been in areas where exposure to ticks may have occurred.  If you find a tick on yourself, you can use this link to have it tested for Lyme disease.

www.health.ri.gov/disease/communicable/lyme/tickstesting-connecticut.php