Ticks are parasitic pests that you probably don’t want to think much about. However, taking the time to learn about these biting, blood-feeding arachnids is important. Ticks are pests that regularly find their way to our Frederick, Maryland, outdoor spaces. Learning how to control and prevent ticks is key to your, your family, and your pets’ health and safety.
Womack Pest Control is a local pest control company that offers high-quality pest control in Frederick. We are committed to helping our customers maintain a healthy, pest-free property. Continue reading to learn more about ticks and the best methods to keep them away from your yard and family.
The Life Cycle Of Ticks: A Comprehensive Overview
Ticks have a fairly complex lifecycle that, on average, can take three or more years to complete. There is a lot of room for error, and most ticks aren’t able to complete their lifecycle.
Ticks have a four-stage lifecycle:
- Egg
- Larva
- Nymph
- Adult
At each new life stage (larva, nymph, adult), ticks require a blood meal from a new host. Ticks search for their hosts passively. When ready to eat, they climb to the top of a piece of grass or other vegetation and hope that an animal brushes past them that they can climb onto. If they are unsuccessful at making contact with a host, they will eventually die.
Ticks feed slowly for several days; once full, the engorged tick drops to the ground below them. Ticks are most commonly introduced onto our properties by their wildlife hosts like rodents, deer, skunks, and raccoons. When ticks are not on a host feeding, they spend their time on the ground in dark, damp areas. Leaf litter, dark wooded areas, and dense vegetation provide ticks the protection they need to digest their meals and continue their lifecycle.
The Dangers Of Tick-Borne Diseases: Risks And Symptoms
Ticks in Frederick and across the United States are dangerous to people and animals because they carry and spread many diseases, including:
- Lyme disease
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Babesiosis
- Ehrlichiosis
- Heartworm disease (in dogs, cats, and some other animals)
Lyme disease is one of the most well-known diseases transmitted to people and animals by ticks. Lyme disease symptoms include a telltale bullseye-like rash, fever, headaches, achy joints, and fatigue. If not treated by a medical professional, Lyme disease can cause long-lasting treatments.
While not every tick you encounter is diseased, many are, and limiting your contact with them and avoiding tick bites is always best.
Tick Prevention: Remedy Factors That Attract Ticks To Your Property
One of the best things you can do to make your property less susceptible to issues with ticks is to remove things most likely to attract them. Here are some of our most helpful tick prevention tips:
- Keep grass short, especially around fence lines, trees, and walkways.
- Rake up fallen leaves and remove other yard debris.
- Keep lids on trash cans and remove bird feeders to avoid attracting rodents and other wildlife to your property.
- Keep bushes and shrubs well-trimmed to reduce shade areas near your home.
Use these tips to help minimize the number of ticks that can become comfortable on your property.
Professional Tick Control Services: Stress-Free And Effective
If you are tired of finding ticks on yourself, your family members, or your pets, we are here to help. Womack Pest Control knows about the ticks that live in our region and how best to treat and eliminate them.
We provide the services necessary to control an active tick infestation and then the recurring services to stop them from taking over your yard in the future. If you are ready for a stress-free way to maintain a tick-free property, look no further; we offer the most effective home pest control near you! Please call today for more information about our tick control services and treatment plans.