Prevent Lyme Disease Deborah Smith-Fiola Lyme Disease is spread by the tiny deer tick.
Ticks feed on blood, and infected ticks transmit the disease as they feed.
Although the deer tick prefers to feed on wild animals, especially mice, birds, opossum, raccoon, and deer, they will also feed on dogs, cats, livestock, and humans. When people visit or live near deer tick habitats, they run a high risk of contracting Lyme Disease. For your own safety, you should become familiar with tick habits and habitats, and you should learn how to prevent tick bites. They also are found, to a lesser degree, along the edge of the woods, where the woods meet lawns or fields. Ticks prefer the cool, moist woodlands where they have a better chance of finding an animal host.