Ticks In Lawns

Controlling Ticks In and Around The Home

Ticks are without a doubt a major menace to both people and pets. The tick is responsible for the very effective spread of many highly dangerous diseases which in some cases can cause extreme illness or even death.

Diseases which are transmitted by Ticks include Lyme Disease, Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness, Powassan encephalitis, Colorado tick fever, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia and anaplasmosis.

Ticks In The Lawn

Ticks are generally never a problem on lawns which are kept well maintained. Ticks are very poor travellers and need long grass or bushes to climb - in order to attach themselves to a person or animal which is passing by. Ticks also need a ready supply of water close by as well. Often when ticks are spotted on a lawn they are there by accident, often from falling from a host.

What Animals Do Ticks Feed On

Ticks will feed on deer, mice, birds, and many other small animals, and it is from these hosts that they make their way onto our own properties and become a problem for people and pets.

Controlling Ticks

The most effective method of controlling Ticks is to control their environment, which means good maintenance of our own lawns and yards. Keep grass mowed regularly and at low heights which are most suited to lawns. Remove any clutter around the yard where Ticks could find a home. Look around the yard for unintentional water sources such as old buckets, car tyres, guttering or anything else which may hold water, and clean these up - this will also help control mosquitoes. Lastly, keep overgrown bushes trimmed and neat.

Controlling Ticks also involves maintaining the perimeter of the lawn. While a Tick Insecticide should not be used on a lawn, it should be used around the lawns perimeter, where the lawn meets the garden. This helps any accidental travel onto the lawn surface.

Wildlife

If wildlife is a factor which may be increasing the prevalence of Ticks on your property then this should also be factored into an overall Tick Control Regimen too. Deer should be restricted from entering the property by making the property inhospitable for them to want to enter.

If mice and other small mammals are prevalent, then these too can be a source of Ticks, there is a very good insecticide which is applied to Cotton Balls, these cotton balls carrying the Tick killing insecticide are then picked up by the mice to create their nests, the Ticks around the mice environment are then infected and are killed by the insecticide. But most importantly - there are no health effects or dangers ever presented to the mice themselves.

Living Near The Woods

Living near the open woods, or if a property borders open woodlands, then this factor is a very important one in the total control of Ticks, as the Ticks can quite freely enter the property from the woods at any time, creating an ongoing source of problems.

Stopping Ticks from entering the property from the wood or forest involves several methods, first is looking at animal control, as mentioned previously - this can be achieved without harming the wildlife animals themselves. Next is to create a barrier to the property. Remember how it was mentioned earlier that Tick are very bad travellers... with that in mind we can create a barrier which the ticks will find very difficult to cross to enter into the property.

This involves trimming any long grass surrounding the property - this stops the ticks from travelling and attaching themselves to hosts. If possible, look at creating a barrier such as gravel or crushed rock paths which Ticks are unable to cross.

Environmental Control Of Ticks

Unfortunately there is no effective natural way to control Ticks.

Summary Of Tick Control

Controlling Ticks means controlling their environment, keep lawns mowed regularly, slash long grass, remove any friendly places that Ticks could call home - including water sources, control Ticks from entering the property, and finally... look after the other hosts of Ticks such as small animals, and Tick control is easily achieved.