Ticks are creepy arachnids that draw blood and transmit diseases. It isn't good to get a tick on you or to have ticks in your yard. Let's take a look at common ticks in Huntsville, how to keep ticks off you, how to protect your pets, and how to get ticks out of your yard.
Common Ticks In Huntsville
In our area, there are several species of ticks. The most common ticks that impact human health are the Lone Star tick, black legged tick, brown dog tick, and American dog tick. Here are a few quick facts you should know, as they relate to effective tick control.
- Lone Star ticks are strongly attracted to humans. You can pick these up in your yard by the dozens. The seed ticks of this species can attach in large groups when you kneel in an area where they can be found. The good news is that the chance of disease transmission for a seed tick is much lower. You can tell seed ticks from adult ticks by the number of legs they have. They only have six.
- Black legged ticks are abundant in Huntsville. While not strongly attracted to humans, they will readily attach to humans. Unfortunately, they are a vector for Lyme disease, which makes them a serious disease concern.
- American dog ticks are drawn to pets but will attach to humans when they are brought inside homes.
- Brown dog ticks are drawn to pets and will attach to humans indoors. But this tick is worse than the American dog tick. This is the only tick species in our area that can complete its life cycle indoors. That means they can infest your home.
How To Keep Ticks Off You
When you go out into your yard, or when you go anywhere in nature, there are a few tips that can help to keep ticks off you and also provide personal tick control.
- Spray mosquito repellent on your legs and feet.
- Avoid tall grass.
- Tuck your pants into your socks. This makes ticks have to scale your body to get to your skin.
- Wear light clothing so you can see ticks as they climb your body.
- When you return home, do a quick tick check. If you find a tick, use a tick-removal tool to get it off. If you don't have one, use needle-nose tweezers to grip the tick near the head and pull it off.
How To Get Ticks Out Of Your Yard
If you're looking to control ticks yourself, we have a few suggestions.
- Ticks need moisture in order to survive and develop. When you address clogged or broken gutters, overwatered landscaping, excess vegetation, and other moisture issues, you make it more difficult for ticks to live in your yard.
- When you put gravel or wood chips down in outdoor recreation areas, you make ticks want to go somewhere else. (These things hurt their little feet.)
- When you take steps to deter wildlife, such as securing garbage in covered containers, removing bird feeders, moving wood piles away, and using fencing material to keep animals out of voids underneath structures, you reduce ticks in your yard.
How To Keep Ticks Away From Your Huntsville Yard
If you want the best control possible, the solution is to invest in professional flea and tick control treatments for your yard. These work to repel ticks and stop the cycle of infestation on your property. If you're in Huntsville, Alabama, we can help you with this. At EnviroGuard, we offer the most advanced flea and tick control available. If you're concerned about tick-borne diseases, there is no better way we know of to keep ticks away from your property.