Personal Protection
One key remedy to tick exposure is to avoid tick habitats. This would include wooded areas, brush, tall grasses, grassy fields, stone-faced walls, and shaded areas where sanitation habits are poor (leaf litter and ground clutter).
It is also recommended that if you are going to venture into known tick habitats, specific clothing should be worn to increase your level of protection. This includes:
- Hat with visor.
- Long sleeved shirt.
- Long pants making sure pants are tucked into socks.
- Wear bright or light colors – ticks do not like light colored clothing.
- Proper personal use of insect repellents - paying close attention to label directions.
Once your outdoor activity is finished, and prior to coming indoors, check your clothing (or have someone else check it for you), brush off your clothing, and inspect your shoes and socks.
Furthermore, check for ticks on a daily basis. You should especially check areas of the body ticks like including the hairline, underarms, groin and area behind knees.
Property Management
We treat the following areas: lawn areas, landscape beds, stone walls, wood piles, and 25-feet beyond the perimeter wood line.
There are several ways that you can protect your property, we recommend:
- Learn the “safe” and “risk” zones on your property.
- Keep your lawn mowed at the appropriate height. This will reduce the ability of the tick to wait for a host.
- Good sanitation. Remove all leaf debris and keep plant beds clean and dry.
- Keep shrubs and bushes pruned and away from pathways.
- Keep ground covers to a minimum. Ticks like to hide in these.
- Locate play areas in sunlight.
- Create a natural barrier around your property using gravel or wood chips.
- Keep your pets from wooded areas or wandering into wooded areas.
- Consider deer fencing.
