How to Get Rid of Deer Ticks?

How to Get Rid of Deer Ticks

Deer ticks are small, hard to spot and like to hide in hair, skin folds and armpits. Checking in and behind your dog’s ears, around the neck and in the leg and armpits of dogs can prevent deer ticks from crawling on humans as well.

Florida bug control suggests sealing all cracks and crevices around the foundation of your home along with doors, windows, and all other points of entry. By excluding rodents and potential disease-carrying pests from your home, you can exclude ticks as well.

Around the exterior of your home, eliminate clutter and yard debris. Keeping grass cut short and branches trimmed away from your house and roof can go a long way in deterring pests from finding your home an attractive place to live. Also, regularly clean pet lounging areas and remove pest-nesting materials from the exterior of your home.

Making the Yard Less Tick-Friendly

Most blacklegged ticks are picked up where lawn meets woods, so that edge deserves most of your attention.

• Rake and remove leaf litter along wooded borders and under shrubs, where ticks shelter from heat and dryness.
• Add a dry buffer. A strip of wood chips or gravel about 3 feet wide between lawn and woods helps keep ticks out of play and work areas.
• Move swing sets, benches and garden beds away from the woods’ edge and into sunnier spots.
• Stack firewood neatly in a dry place so it does not become rodent shelter.
• Discourage deer with fencing where practical.

Protect people, not just the yard: use an EPA-registered insect repellent according to its label, wear long pants tucked into socks in brushy areas, and shower soon after coming inside. Tumbling dry clothes on high heat for about 10 minutes kills ticks that hitched a ride.

Common mistakes: spraying open, sunny lawn where ticks rarely live while ignoring shaded edges; treating once and calling it done; and using a dog’s tick product on a cat, since some products made for dogs are dangerous to cats.

What a professional approach includes: an inspection of shaded edges and signs of wildlife, targeted treatment of the places ticks actually live, advice on habitat changes and rodent exclusion, and follow-up visits. Florida Bug Control is family-owned, works without long-term contracts and re-treats at no extra charge if pests come back between scheduled visits. More information is on our tick control page.