After a cold Canadian winter, most of us look forward to the spring and summer months to get outside and experience the natural world, whether it’s hiking, biking, gardening or birdwatching.

In recent years, however, our outdoor activities have been challenged by a range of issues stemming from climate change: increased heatwaves, lower air quality due to wildfire smoke, more intense and frequent storms and more ticks.

Over the last decade, there has been a steady northward expansion in the range of blacklegged ticks (deer ticks), and associated cases of tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease, in Canada.

Many of these expanding risk areas overlap with major population centres. More people may now come into contact with ticks in backyards bordering woodlands, or while hiking in forests and recreational greenspaces.

Current recommendations for Lyme disease prevention mainly focus on personal protection measures to avoid tick bites, such as wearing long pants, tucking them into socks, applying repellent containing DEET or icaridin, doing a tick check and promptly removing ticks after time spent outdoors. These are valuable actions; however, it can be difficult for people to do these actions properly and consistently.

A recent study by our team at the University of Ottawa has identified woodchips as a useful tool for keeping ticks off........

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