<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:courier new, courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">With covid-19 running rampant we are trying to avoid trails heavily used by other people. <span>Yesterday while exploring a new trail option I was on a lightly used fire break trail in northern Berks County, PA and did some bushwhacking to get to another trail. In the process I went through large areas of Japanese stilt grass. How concerned should I be about ticks in the Japanese stilt grass? Is it like many invasives in that native organisms such as native ticks avoid it? Are there times of day I should be more cautious than others? Are there specific weather conditions I should be more wary of? (It was overcast and cool with a ceiling maybe 50 feet above me.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span><br></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span>I wear knee length hiking skirts* and regular hiking socks without putting chemicals on my legs. So <span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "courier new", courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">when I got home I took my normal precaution of showering and scrubbing my legs.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "courier new", courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span><span>(*For anyone willing to go back to an ancient male tradition (pre-Alexander the Great), I have found hiking skirts to be incredibly comfortable and practical for hiking. Most of mine were made by Purple Rain Adventure Skirts even though I have other brands. They make kilts, too.))</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span><span><br></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span><span> Richard Gardner</span></span></div></div></body></html>