Be Sure to Check for Ticks

  • Added:
    Sep 20, 2013
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Downtown Home and Garden Ann Arbor, MI
Downtown Home and Garden Ann Arbor, MI
Photo by Andypiper

Even though the calendar says late summer, ticks are still out in full force. They crawl along the ground. They drop out of trees on unsuspecting passersby. Ticks are not picky at all about who they latch onto, either. Deer. Birds. Dogs. Humans. It really doesn’t matter. If it has blood drink, then the tick is more than happy hang on and as long as it takes to have a meal.

However, the thought of a tick hanging on to any part of a person’s body is normally enough to gross them out – and concern them. And with good reason too. Ticks are the carriers of a disturbing number of pathogens, including Lyme disease. These pathogens are distributed through their saliva, so even when attempting to remove a tick can lead to them spitting and getting unwanted sicknesses into the body.

If you’ve gone hiking or are planning to go camping, always make sure to check for ticks. This can be done at the end of a hike or very thoroughly at the end of the day. Ticks are surprisingly good at landing on people and marching their way to a location for a bite. You may never even feel them crawling on your skin or biting. You may not even know there is one on you until you discover it.

Ticks are not just out in the wild either. Ticks, like fleas, can be found right in the backyard. This is why regularly checking pets or supplying pets with tick and flea medications is a great idea. That way they don’t have to get ticks on them and you can feel more at ease when they play outside. Though there are no medications made for people, ticks are much easier to discover due to our lack of hair on the majority of our bodies. Check children before they come in for the day and if you discover any ticks, be careful about removing them. Hang onto any removed ticks in a secure container for a few days to make sure no one gets sick. If an illness does present itself, the tick can be checked to find out whether or not it is the cause.

Handling ticks in your lawn isn’t about spraying pesticides everywhere. Keeping ticks under control as best you can means better lawn care overall. Keep your lawn cut to at least three inches. Clear away weeds or other tall plants that don’t need to grow. Clear up any debris such as dead branches and unnecessary piles of stuff.

Keep trees neatly trimmed as well so there aren’t any low hanging branches that ticks might like to use. Move bird feeders farther away from your house, and don’t plant flowers that might attract deer to your lawn. Sometimes these animals will have a tick on them that will then drop off. Its next meal may be your dog, your child or you.

If you do want even more control against ticks, contact a professional pest control company. They will decide what will be best to use in order to give you the most effective results.

Article Source: Hopper

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Article Source: Hopper


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