Property Management For Ticks
Always be sure to wear proper clothing outdoors to protect yourself from ticks, use proper tick repellents and pesticides on your clothing and skin, and do tick checks on your clothing and exposed skin at least every three or four hours while outdoors. Check for ticks after being outdoors on both your pet and yourselves (including your clothes and entire body).
The following information is adapted from "Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Disorders" by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner, founder of the Lyme Disease Foundation.
VEGETATION MANAGEMENT
Two general goals are 1) to reduce the humidity on the ground and 2)to move the vegetation that allows ticks to reach their hosts farther from your home:
* Prune or eliminate trees and overhanging branches and clear away brush so that more sun and air reach the soil
* Move the forest, and the ticks it may contain, by extending the areas of open lawn around your house.
* Remove leaves, branches, and other vegetative litter.
* Mow the grass regularly to reduce ground-level humidity. By one estimate, mowing alone can reduce the tick population by 70%.
* If there are fields as part of your property, keep them trimmed to about 3 inches high.
* Let the grass dry thoroughly between waterings. better yet, don't do any watering at all.
* Widen trails and walkways so that they are at least 5 feet wide and make extra efforts to keep them clear of brush
* Move your outdoors clothesline to an open area of your lawn so that draped sheets and blankets do not touch the brush.
* Move children's play areas out of the woods.
HOST MANAGEMENT
* Eliminate bird-feeders and bird baths.
* Eliminate deer salt licks
* Erect 10-foot-high fencing around your property, which discourages deer and may reduce the tick larva population by as much as 97%, about 50% of the nymphal ticks, and nearly 3/4 of the adult ticks. It is best to electrify your fence with a small charge and then use bait, such as peanut butter, to lure the deer to the fence. The mild electric shock the deer will experience makes a lasting impression without harming the animals, and they will avoid the fence in the future.
* Use repellents.
* Remove wood piles and stone walls, which provide homes for small animals.
* Remove garbage, move garbage cans farther away from your home, and make sure lids fit securely.
* Modify your landscape design. Decrease the variety of soft plants that deer like, including roses, rhododendrons and forsythia, and increase plant that deer dislike, especially those with thorns, a pungent taste or woody stalks, such as Colorado spruce, holly bushes, boxwoods and marigolds.
* Acquire a dog, preferably one with a loud bark.
* Never move livestock or pets to a new area until you are certain the animals are tick-free
* Never take in stray or wild animals
KILLING TICKS
* Acaricides can significantly reduce all stages of ticks, but there is concern over the effects on humans through water supplies and food cycles, as well as birds, fish and other animals. It is up to you to weigh the risks and benefits to your family and decide whether to use them. Brand names such as Dursban, Tempo, and Sevin are quite effective. Be sure to follow package directions carefully and consult with the experts at your local lawn and garden shop. Insecticides should be applied initially in late May or early June in the northern United States and late February to early March in the south to kill nymphs and larvae. A single application in the late spring can reduce the nymph population by 100% within 3 days. The larvae population is also great reduced = by anywhere from 50% to 90%, according to one study. A second application between September and early October kills the remaining larvae and most or all of the emerging adults. By killing the ticks that would otherwise lay eggs, you significantly increase your protection for the following year.
* Try putting cotton balls treated with the pesticide permethrin in cardboard tubes, such as the ones you find inside a roll of paper towels. Then distribute the tubes around the edges of the property where tick-infected mice would find them and steal the cotton balls for their nests. You will still have to contend with visits from neighboring mice. More significantly, most ticks feed on more than one type of animal, so you aren't likely to eliminate your entire problem.
* Don't try burning the vegetation around your house as a means of killing ticks. Although the tick population may be temporarily reduced, burning actually eliminates tall overgrowth and allows the excessive proliferation of new low-height shrubbery... producing ideal conditions for mice and tick habitats. This results in a larger mouse population the following year, giving ticks access to even more hosts.