Identifying Types of Ticks
There’s quite a few varying species of ticks throughout Canada and the United States, all of which have varying geographic spreads, life cycles, and diseases. If you recently found a tick in your yard, use the chart below to help identify the type of tick.
If you keep finding ticks on yourself or pets after spending time in your yard, it’s safe to assume you have an outdoor problem that needs attention. It’s difficult to know if you have a tick infestation outdoors without knowing the proper locations to search. Since ticks prefer shaded and moist areas, you can typically find them under shrubs and leaves, wood piles, stone walls, and tall grass. If you think you have ticks in your grass, a quick trick you can do is drag a white towel across the lawn – they will cling onto it as you move over them.
As much as you hate to hear it, tick infestations can also occur indoors. This happens when you or your pet brings a tick indoors and it then reproduces. Ticks can lay anywhere from 1500-2000 eggs at a time, and this will usually happen along the baseboards. Again, if you keep finding ticks inside your home, even if you haven’t been outdoors much, this is a red flag that you have a very big indoor problem and will have to treat it with targeted insecticides along all cracks, crevices, and dog cages.
Ticks are unsightly and bring more than a bite to your yard! They are potentially very dangerous and can carry Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Keeping your family and pets safe from ticks should be on your priority list this summer!
Here are our tips on how to prevent ticks in your yard.
- Keep Your Lawn Mowed
Ticks do not like short grass as it exposes them to the sun. By keeping your grass short, ticks will not be as attracted to your yard as they would if the grass is taller.
- Make Sure Your Garbage is Secured From Rodents
Ticks don’t like garbage, rodents do, and if you’re attracting them, then they can potentially bring ticks into your yard!
- Remove Bird Feeders
Young ticks feed on birds, and will drop off the bird when they finish feeding, and can then attach onto you, your pets, or even your children.
- Have Your Pets Treated For Ticks
Your pets (mostly dogs) spend a lot of time in the backyard, therefore, they are going to attract ticks and then bring them into your home. Please make sure you always discuss tick treatment with your veterinarian as this can make a huge difference when trying to prevent ticks in general.
- Hire a Professional Pest Control Company
By getting your yard professionally treated, this can reduce your exposure to ticks and Lyme Disease. Contact us if you have any questions on how to get started with a quote for your yard!