How to Get Rid of Ticks in Your Home and Garden 

As the weather warms up and you start spending more time outdoors, preventing tick infestations is essential for the safety of you and your loved ones. Estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that more than 475,000 Americans are diagnosed annually with Lyme disease, a dangerous tick-borne illness. That number doesn’t account for the thousands of children and adults who contract other tick-related diseases every year, including anaplasmosis, spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis.  

Ticks can be active year-round, but they tend to be more prevalent from spring through autumn. USX Pest Control wants to help you learn how to get rid of ticks and protect yourself and those you care about from these potentially deadly parasites.  

Understanding Ticks 

These creepy-crawly pests aren’t insects at all. Ticks belong to the arachnid family, which includes spiders and mites. As an arachnid, ticks differ from insects by having eight legs instead of six. Additionally, insects have three main body parts — head, thorax, and abdomen — while ticks only have two — an abdomen and a cephalothorax. Also, insects’ eyes are on their heads with their legs on their thorax, while ticks’ eyes and legs are both on their cephalothorax. 

Although there are approximately 300 different species of ticks in the U.S., they all fall into one of two categories — hard ticks and soft ticks. Hard ticks have hard, shield-like plates on their backs, while soft ticks look soft and leathery.  

Tick Behavior 

Learning how ticks feed can help you better understand how they spread diseases. Most species have four stages in their life cycles. Ticks grow from an egg to a six-legged larva to an eight-legged nymph to an adult, a process that can take as many as three years, with ample feeding required at each stage. Some species attach to a single preferred host. For example, the brown dog tick will feed on humans and other animals, but it prefers canine hosts. Other species may prefer a different host at each life stage.  

Once a tick finds its host, typically by sensing body heat, vibrations, moisture, or carbon dioxide given off by breathing, it climbs on and bites down. It then finds a spot to feed and inserts its mouthparts to begin its blood meal. In the process, the tick often secretes saliva, which can numb the bite zone on the host, allowing it to go undetected, at least at first.  

While it feeds, the tick ingests pathogens from the host. In a similar manner, it can transmit any germs and pathogens it carries to the host during the feeding process. 

Tick Species 

Of the hundreds of species found across the country, five are common in Upstate New York and Western Massachusetts. If you encounter a tick in your yard, garden, or other outdoor space, it will likely be one of the following tick species:  

Deer Tick: Also sometimes called a “blacklegged tick,” the deer tick feeds primarily on white-tailed deer, but they also feed on other animal hosts. Adults are typically 1/8 inch in size with tan to orange-brown bodies and dark-colored legs. 

American Dog Tick: This tick can reach up to 5/8 inch in size after feeding. These arachnids have brown bodies with white, tan, or gray markings. 

Lone Star Tick: These aggressive biters are characterized by a single white mark on the center of the females’ brown bodies. In comparison, males have white streaks or spots around the perimeters of their bodies. 

Asian Long-horned Tick: This invasive species is native to Asia and known to feed on livestock, wildlife, pets, and even people. This is a tiny tick, often about the size of a pinhead, although females can grow as large as a green pea after feeding. 

Woodchuck (Groundhog) Tick: These reddish-tan ticks are usually about 1/8 inch long and look like deer ticks. As a result, it may be necessary to examine these ticks under a microscope to tell the difference.  

Signs of Tick Infestation 

It’s critical to understand that you can encounter ticks, even if you don’t detect signs of an infestation. Tall grasses, wooded areas, fields, meadows, and areas with dense brush are some of ticks’ preferred spots to lie in wait for their hosts. You can encounter them at work, at the park, on walking trails, and even at home.  

The most common sign of an infestation is detecting the presence of one or more ticks. If a tick reproduces, one tick can quickly turn into many ticks — both inside and outdoors.  

Other signs of a possible infestation include:  

• Someone coming down with a tick-borne illness, often characterized by symptoms like fever, body aches, fatigue, headaches, rashes, and chills 
• Pets coming in from outdoor spaces with ticks attached to them 
• The presence of tick eggs, typically in dark, sheltered areas like cracks in walls and floorboards 

Methods of Tick Removal 

Over the years, many removal methods have been suggested, including slathering petroleum jelly or nail polish remover on the tick. Putting a match to a tick’s butt also isn’t an effective method for safe removal. Instead, the CDC and National Pest Management Association recommend taking the following steps:  

• Remain calm and part any hair or pull hair away from the bite site to expose the skin. 
• Use clean tweezers with a fine tip and place the tip as close to the surface of the skin as possible while grasping the tick’s head. 
• Gently squeeze the tweezers and pull upward using a steady amount of pressure. Avoid jerking or twisting as you pull, which can result in the tick’s mouthparts being left in the skin, potentially leading to infection. 
• Wash the bite area and your hands with soap and warm water or rubbing alcohol. 
• Flush the tick down the toilet to discard it. You can also place it in a jar or sealed bag with rubbing alcohol if you want to save it to show a pest professional or physician. 
• Monitor the person or pet who was bitten for any signs of illness over the next few weeks, watching for fever, fatigue, and rashes.  

Tick Prevention Strategies 

When you’re going out for a walk or a hike, avoiding tall grassy areas and treating your clothing with permethrin can help keep you safe from ticks. But how can you prevent ticks in your home and garden? Preventing tick infestations in these spaces requires taking a few mindful steps. 

Clear Brush and Regularly Mow Grass 

Ticks thrive in low-lying areas where they can hide. Keeping the lawn mowed and clearing brush away from homes, landscaping, play equipment, and gardens can help. 

Create a Tick-Free Border 

Adding a barrier between your garden, patio, and play areas to separate inhabited zones from wooded areas and grasses is helpful. Create a barrier using gravel, river rock, or wood chips that is at least three feet wide to prevent ticks from moving into the areas you use frequently. 

Remain Mindful  

Remove debris from the yard and ensure you stack firewood off the ground in a dry spot. This will help reduce the number of hiding spots that ticks can use to their advantage. It can also discourage rodents from visiting, which is important because rodents often inadvertently carry ticks along with them.  

Use Landscaping to Your Advantage 

Arrange patios, decks, play equipment, and recreational areas away from the edges of the yard and away from shrubs and trees. Opting for an open, sunny spot can reduce tick populations and create a tick-safe zone. 

Tick Treatments 

Preventing tick infestations is the best treatment approach, but no preventive measure is 100% effective. If you do end up with a tick problem, you can approach it in one of two ways, with chemical or natural treatments.  

Wondering how to get rid of ticks in your outdoor spaces? Try a few of these strategies:  

Use Tick Tubes: These cardboard tubes are filled with permethrin-treated cotton. When mice encounter the tubes, they gather the cotton to build their nests. The permethrin binds to their fur’s natural oils and kills any ticks without harming mice, which helps reduce the spread of ticks.  

Fence Your Yard: When your outdoor space is open to deer and other wildlife, it’s also open to any ticks or parasites they may carry.  

Add Natural Repellents: Plant marigolds, lavender, or lemon balm — all of which have a strong smell that helps repel ticks from the yard and garden. 

Chemical Treatments 

Using pesticides is always an option. Homeowners can spray their yards with products that contain bifenthrin. However, it’s critical to do so with care. Some chemical products could inadvertently keep beneficial insects like bees away, too. If preventive and natural measures aren’t effective, it’s always better to call for professional help rather than try to DIY chemical treatments. Professionals have extensive training and will know what to use, when to apply it, and how to ensure that your yard remains safe for people, pets, and pollinators.  

Keeping Your Home and Garden Tick-Free 

With the promise of outdoor fun just ahead, maintaining a tick-free home and garden is more important than ever. Ticks are more than just a pest; they are a real health hazard. Ticks potentially carry a number of pathogens that cause serious illnesses and put a damper on spring, summer, and fall outdoor fun. 

USX Pest can offer professional tick control that is environmentally friendly and safe for the people and pets you love. Take charge of your outdoor spaces and achieve peace of mind, starting with a free, comprehensive inspection. We will create a plan tailored to your home’s unique needs to ensure you can enjoy the great outdoors safely.