Is Your Property a Tick Magnet?

While ticks are most commonly encountered in wooded or desert areas, if you live in close proximity to the woods or taller grasses, your property becomes a prime location for ticks to thrive.

Furthermore, you inadvertently invite ticks on your land by creating an atmosphere for the creatures to comfortably live. To best protect your family - and pets - against ticks on your property, use this guide to discover what makes your land prone to tick infestations.

You Have No Barrier Around Your Property

Ticks are surprisingly sensitive and won't cross certain barriers that create a burden, such a decorative rock, mulch, or gravel. If your yard has no existing barrier beyond a basic fence to separate your property from empty lots or nearby uninhabited areas, your property is susceptible to ticks. Road base gravel placed several feet wide around your property's edges will help to keep ticks away.

You Leave Equipment Along Your Yard's Edge

Ticks find easy access to your yard if you leave equipment near your property's border. These parasites will also be attracted to abandoned pet houses and other structures that provide a safe, undisturbed place to hide.

Playground equipment, storage sheds, decks, and other equipment or structures should be placed near the middle of your property or closer to your house to help keep ticks at bay.

Periodically relocate play and other non-permanent yard fixtures to prevent ticks from claiming a home in your yard.

You Have Frequent Wildlife Visitors

While it's enjoyable to see deer, moose, rabbits, and other wildlife animals pass through your property, these creatures are common hosts of ticks, especially the deer tick. Your wildlife visitors inadvertently deposit ticks on your property as they pass through, putting your family and pets at risk of becoming unwilling hosts too.

A deer fence and other deterrents - like cleaning up garden vegetation and keeping woodpiles neat and tidy - will not only help keep rodents and other wildlife off your property, but lessen the chances of getting a tick invasion as well.

You Have Long Grass

If most of your yard is left wild and untreated or you aren't a frequent mower, ticks can easily move in and hide among the grasses waiting for a new host. Certain shrubbery, such as barberry or honeysuckle, attract ticks so these plants should be treated with a pesticide to keep these creatures at bay.

If you prefer to keep your lawn longer or you have parts of your landscape you leave unattended for pasture or other uses, hire a pest control specialist to spray your land periodically with a tick prevention spray or other pesticide.

You Have Roaming Pets

Dogs and cats are common hosts for ticks and bring the parasites onto your land when they roam outside your property and into known tickridden areas. Check your pets often during the spring and summer months for ticks, as these seasons are when many ticks are most active.

Ticks prefer a moist part of the body to burrow and draw blood from; check your pets behind their ears, in their armpits and belly areas, and underneath their necks for ticks.

If you encounter a tick nest or believe you have the insect on your land, call a pest control specialist for assistance. Environmentally friendly treatments can be used to rid your home of ticks, and repeated pest control visits throughout the year will keep your yard well maintained and less likely to attract ticks.

Don't attempt to tackle a tick invasion on your own. Our specialists at American Pest Professionals will identify what type of tick you have on your land and use special treatments to eradicate your pest problem. Our friendly staff will also help you keep ticks away in the future by offering helpful tips for tick prevention; call us today.