An adult female blacklegged (deer) tick, a potential vector of Lyme disease and other diseases. Photo: Jeff Hahn, UMN Extension As we enjoy spring, we seek outdoor activities to not only embrace the pleasant weather but to also help relieve some of the stress of being sequestered at home. Unfortunately with spring also comes ticks. Not to worry, with a few precautions, you can still enjoy the outdoors and protect yourself from these eight-legged pests. How to ID your tick The two most common ticks in Minnesota are the blacklegged tick (formerly called deer tick) and the American dog tick (also called wood tick). Both ticks are nuisances because they bite us for our blood. More scarily, they can also carry diseases which they can transmit to us. By far, the blacklegged (deer) tick is the most important disease carrier in Minnesota. This tick is responsible for giving us Lyme disease. From 2010 – 2018, there have been over 10,500 reported cases of Lyme disease in M