Teeny-tiny critters hard to see are alive and well and waiting to get a blood meal from you from April to October when you're outdoors working in the yard or just having fun.

So inspect yourself and clothing for beastie ticks before going into the house to stay on the safe side. Take precautions to protect yourself from Lyme disease transmitted by the infected bugs. Remove the bugs.

The caveat comes from Doug Serafin, head of the Department of Health Laboratory on the ground floor of Town Hall. On the Greenwich ramparts against ticks for years, Serafin's at least a general of some sort in the Town war on ticks.

"We are offering tick testing services as usual this year," he said Friday in an interview.

"We receive ticks from both Greenwich residents and non-residents and identify them and test them for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.

"Greenwich residents pay $48 and non-residents pay $57.

"Test results are available in one week. All ticks tested have been adults so far. Sometime during the month of May, the nymph will emerge. These are the juvenile stage of the next generation of ticks.

"Nymphs are considered a greater risk for Lyme Disease because

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they are much smaller than the adults and are less likely to be detected.

"We have tested 95 ticks so far this year. Twenty-nine percent of them have been positive for Borrelia burgdorferi."

Over many tick seasons in Greenwich, Serafin's lab has found the percentage of positive ticks tends to vary between 25% and 35%.

The best way to avoid tick bites is to avoid humid leafy environments where ticks like to be, according to Serafin. He also advises using repellant containing DEET or permanone (for clothing only). Both have been found to be effective.

Deer ticks become infected during the larva and nymph phases by feeding on small mammals and birds which harbor the Lyme bacterium.

Later, in their development, the infected nymphs and adults transfer the Lyme bacteria to animals during feeding.

Lyme disease, first detected in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975, is an illness caused by the spirochete Borrelis burgdorferi, a corkscrews-shaped bacterium.

The disease is a multi-system disorder with many different symptoms and signs. Symptoms may occur within days or weeks of a bite. In late manifestations, major signs and symptoms can appear months or even years after being infected.

Here are some of the symptoms:

* Localized rash appears in 70-90 percent of patients. Typically appears in nine days but may take up to 30 days. Rash gradually expands and varies in size and shape. May occur anywhere on body but commonly seen on thigh, groin, trunk and axilla. May be warm to the touch. Rash usually not painful or itchy but can be. Bull's-eye appearance in less than one-half of cases.

* Mild non-specific symptoms in 80 percent of cases may include fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headache, fever, chills, sore throat, swollen glands, stiff neck, respiratory or possible gastrointestinal problems.

* Severe symptoms may develop as the bacteria makes way into epidermal, muscular, nervous or cardiac tissue. Early neurological symptoms may include speech and memory impairment, chest pain and heart rhythm disturbances.

Treatment of early disease, according to the Greenwich Health Department, in most patients can be successful with oral antibiotic therapy.

"However, it has been shown that patients with extended illnesses must be treated longer and more aggressively, using oral and/or intravenous antibiotic therapy," it is noted in the Health Department's Guide on Lyme Disease.

"Generally, early infection is treated for 4-6 weeks. For late illness, treatment ranges from 4-6 months or longer."

Epidemiologists report the highest incidence of severe disease occurs in patients over 40.