Lyme disease and ticks: Ask an expert your questions about how to protect yourself this summer

Ask your questions in the comments and wildlife expert Dominic Dyer will answer them

Watch out: ticks about (Getty)

Ticks are pesky little blighters – crawling up inside your clothes, biting and sucking your blood without invitation.

As the weather becomes warmer in early summer and humans head outdoors to enjoy the fine weather, ticks become increasingly active. That’s when they get you.

They are itch-inducing, irritating pests, but they can also spread lyme disease – a bacterial infection which can cause an array of symptoms, including rashes, joint pains and loss of energy if left untreated.

To help understand ticks and the risks they could pose, The Independent is speaking to wildlife campaigner, writer and broadcaster Dominic Dyer.

So we are asking our readers for questions for Dominic – though not on any old subject. It has to be at least vaguely related to ticks, lyme disease and ways to avoid these blights on the otherwise glorious British summer.

Maybe you’d like to know more about the biology of ticks – what makes them tick?

Perhaps you’d like to know where they fit into the ecology of an area, and if they have any benefits to weigh against the anguish they cause.

Or it could be you’re after practical advice on what to do if you’ve got a tick embedded in your skin, or the skin of a family member or pet.

Put your questions below and we’ll put as many as we can to Dominic during a video interview.

All you have to do is register to submit your question by 1pm on Thursday (June 10) in the comments below.

If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question.