Look for ticks in shady, moist areas

Christy Jones, BCE

Ticks are the nation’s deadliest arthropods, with their ability to vector diseases such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. They frequently harbor in tall grasses and bushes. To kill a tick population, make sure to use a broad-spectrum insecticide in places like shrubs, tall grass, and areas with fallen leaves and ground cover. Ticks love to harbor in shady, moist areas, so it’s important to find and target those areas when treating.

Conducting a pretreatment survey of potential harborage sites is a critical first step in any pest treatment. Use the survey to aid your conversations with customers about tick prevention.

One excellent starting point is keeping lawn and shrubs trimmed, and clearing leaves, twigs and grass clippings. It is also important to adjust watering schedules to prevent overwatering, which reduces the chance of creating more tick-loving harborage areas. Yet another way to prevent ticks is to discourage deer and rodents from coming into the yard. Explain that these animals are known to carry ticks and can easily transfer them to a customer’s property.