How to Kill Ticks

1. If at all possible, avoid known tick habitats during tick season.
2. Avoid sitting on the ground or logs in areas with brush and long grass.
3. Keep grass cut short and repair any cracks and crevices where ticks may be hiding.
4. Remove leaf litter
5. Dispose of empty bird or rodent nesting materials (since ticks infest these materials)
6. Use a tick repellent on clothing and tick repellents. Even with these repellents, you should check your bodies closely twice a day and remove them if you are in tick-infested areas.
7. The infested house and kennel should be thoroughly cleaned to eliminate as many ticks as possible. Vacuuming is very helpful inside. Pet bedding and pet areas should be cleaned well.
8. Kennels, dog houses, and structures occupied by pets should be thoroughly treated to control ticks that have dropped off the dog and reside in harborage areas.
9. Residual insecticide sprays and dust should be applied carefully to all potential tick harborage areas.
10. Long-sleeved shirts and long pants should be worn in a tick-infested area, with pants tucked into socks or boots. Choose light-colored clothing; it makes it easier to spot ticks.
11. Visually inspect your clothes and body after leaving a tick-infested area. Make sure to check the base of the head's skull and back, where ticks may hide from hair.
12. Wash clothes immediately in warm water and detergent after leaving a tick-infested area. Make sure to place items in a dryer; many ticks can survive a warm water washing but will not survive one hour in the dryer.

Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete(a type of bacteria-Borrelia burgdorferi) that affects humans and their pet dogs and wildlife species. In the eastern and midwestern United States, this disease organism is caused principally by a hard tick, which commonly attacks white-tailed deer and rodent species. In the Pacific coastal areas is caused by a similar bacteria called Ixodes pacific us. These ticks have a two-year cycle.

Control against this tick in your yard would be the same type of control suggested for the Brown Dog Tick. They commonly attach to the animal's body; after feeding, they drop to the ground, searching for protective areas. The areas should be sprayed with a residual insecticide. Lyme disease and tips for prevention are found on the CDC web site. Once infected with Lyme disease, a person may experience flu-like symptoms and develop a red rash in the shape of a bull's eye. Because Lyme disease's symptoms so closely mimic the flu, it often goes undiagnosed. It can lead to more severe health problems if left untreated. Tick bites also cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, Human granulocytic and momocytic ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, relapsing fever, Tularemia, and Q fever.

American Tick Bite Symptoms

Symptoms appear 3 to 12 days after tick contact. There is a sudden onset of symptoms that include fever, headache, and aching muscles. A rash usually develops on the wrists and ankles on the second or third day of fever. The rash then spreads to involve the rest of the body, including the palms and soles. If you experience fever following tick contact, see your physician. It is essential to receive the appropriate antibiotics as soon as possible if spotted fever is suspected. Most fatalities can be attributed to a delay in seeking medical attention. It occurs throughout the eastern and the central United States.

Since ticks must be in high humidity areas to survive, they are most commonly found in grassy, brushy, wooded, and shaded areas. Therefore, reducing the humidity in these areas by keeping grass well-clipped, removing brush, and pruning trees to allow more sunlight to penetrate the soil surface will discourage ticks from becoming established in these areas. Control of American dog ticks in outdoor areas is challenging. While several insecticides are labeled for outdoor tick control, they are usually not effective in eliminating large numbers of ticks in brushy, heavily wooded areas.

There are, however, some management techniques that can discourage a buildup of ticks in these areas. Modifying the habitat is a more permanent approach to tick management. Use topical tick treatments and sprays on dogs and regularly examine them for ticks and wash their bedding.

• The American dog tick goes through an egg, larva, nymph, and adult stage during its development.
• While they may be found throughout the year, adults are most active during late April through May.
• The immature stages may feed on these same hosts but prefer to infest smaller mammals such as meadow mice, squirrels, and chipmunks.
• All stages of the American dog tick will also feed on humans if given the opportunity.
• They do not transmit Lyme disease. Although dog ticks do not carry Lyme disease, they are the primary carrier of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the midwest states.

1. Cutting vegetation and grass short will increase the effectiveness of chemical treatments.
2. Wisdom TC, Bifen IT and Permethrin SFR are recommended products.

Description

It is small, red-brown in color, uniform in color. Its mouthparts are easily seen when viewed from above. The body is flattened and shaped like a teardrop.

Habits

Many tick species can be carried indoors on animals but cannot complete their entire life cycle inside. Dogs are the preferred host in the US. The adults attach to the ears and between the toes, and the larvae and nymphs are often found in hair along the back. However, they are not restricted to these parts.

Once an infestation occurs inside a home, it can grow very rapidly. Typically, a few ticks are brought into the house or from an infested kennel, open field, or another place where tick-infested dogs have been located. A home can become infested if the family dog picks up ticks from an infested residence, boarding kennel, open fields, or similar place where other infected dogs have been located. Another infested dog may visit the residence, during which time some ticks may drop off. In this case, the home and yard may become infested even though a dog is not generally kept there.

After the ticks have engorged on a blood meal, they drop from the host and seek some protected situation in the immediate surroundings. For this reason, they may be found behind baseboards, under the window and door moldings, in window pulley openings, or in furniture.

• All cracks and crevices in an infested premise must be treated for reasonable control. All tick life stages may be found behind baseboards, around window door moldings, or in furniture. Newly hatched larvae can climb, so all cracks and crevices need to be treated.
• If pet bedding is infected, wash, or dispose. Use appropriate pet treatment on the dogs and bedding.
• All stages of the American dog tick will also feed on humans if given the opportunity.
• Dogs do not become infested with brown dog ticks by direct contact with other dogs.
• Ticks feeding on a dog drop off and molt before they resume host-seeking behavior and attach to another dog.

Inside Treatment: Pivot Aerosol or FenvaStar EcoCap

Outside Treatment: Wisdom TC, Bifen IT and Permethrin SFR are recommended products.

Written by our resident pest control expert Ken Martin.