Cretaceous Amber Alert:Trail Care to Stock Tick Repellent

​by Ed Lawrence, Volunteer Trail Care Coordinator

​Paleontologists have discovered a tick grasping the feather of a dinosaur entombed in a 99-million-year-old piece of golden amber, providing remarkable proof that these tiny pests were drinking dinosaur blood long, long, long before they were crawling up the pant legs of Pennsylvania hikers. The Trail Care Program is going to take a more proactive approach this year in helping volunteers ward off these ancient parasites. Besides encouraging people to do a daily “tick check” after coming off the trail, KTA will also provide a variety of repellents to be available for use in the morning before crews set out. These will include brands containing a spectrum of ingredients from DEET and Picaridin to natural oils of lemongrass and geranium. The potential adverse health consequences of having an embedded tick should be on everyone’s radar. Keeping our volunteers tick free as they keep our hiking trails open and accessible will be a priority this Trail Care season. 

Read more about the ancient tick HERE.