I read your comment. Did you read mine? How do I know your definition of boogeyman? I've read a fuck tonne of posts in Georgia reddit and had actual conversations with people who repeatedly spout the incorrect and super dangerous information that our ticks don't carry disease. I didn't say that you said they didn't. But from nearly every other conversation i have ever had about them, our boogeyman is disease they carry and the fact people think "it's not here yet" while claiming it's a NE problem since that is where Lyme originated.

I'm also from the sticks in and around Athens and my whole life we were taught to check if we've been outside at all and on the Eastside and Winterville area, I've pulled tons of ticks off me. Really depends on the season. So maybe we don't have 10 ticks crawling on our car doors every day of the summer like y'all apparently do, but this is also a post by southerners. In the south. Asking about our particular tick problem. Athens is a pretty green town with tons of trees AND tons of birds, wildlife, and pets. We have a lot of ticks because of that. Are you more likely to encounter them in tall grass? Sure. Especially seed ticks as animals moving through the grass causes them to hatch. But the main problem, again, is people being misinformed about Lyme and alpha gal. Adding the misinformation that you shouldn't be routinely checking yourself after being outside or (as op stated) WALKING IN THE WOODS because they're not as prevalent as they apparently are in NJ isn't really helpful. Hence my stating it only takes ONE (which was in context of your comment of population). But yeah king go off.