SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — April Showers bring May flowers but it also brings ticks.

Some of the worst trail companions, this time of year the bugs begin to try and find their next meal, namely humans and their pets. The creepy crawlers make their way into trees and other vegetation to fall onto unsuspecting passersby. KCAU 9 spoke with a Nurse Practitioner with Unity Point Saint Lukes’s about how to keep from being made a meal.

“if you’re going out in the woods or going to go out into the tall grasses, it’d be important to wear long sleeve clothes and also protect yourself with D.E.E.T or with a spray to try and protect yourself, prevent them, or repel them from attaching to you,” said Cindy Lewin of UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s.

It’s important that if you do find a tick has bitten you, it gets removed within 24 hours. If you have been bitten you should watch for the feeling of intense fatigue after the bite which could be a symptom of Lyme disease.

Some ways to keep them off in the first place include wearing long sleeves and pants as well as using bug repellant spray.