Keeping ticks off you (and your pets)
Once outdoor temperatures start rising around 50 degrees F in the spring, we start to see ticks around Chattanooga. We find the most ticks on Lookout and Signal Mountain, as well as Missionary Ridge and North Chattanooga.
Personal & Pet Protection
The easiest way to keep ticks off of ourselves and our pets is to avoid tall grass and underbrush! However, that’s not an option for those of us who want to enjoy the outdoors in Chattanooga. Long pants tucked into socks can go a long ways, but if you’re spending time in an area that’s known to have high tick populations, a little bit of chemical protection can be helpful.
Treating around your legs and shoes with DEET-based insect repellent can help keep ticks off your clothes. For long-term control, consider treating clothing with Permethrin (I use Sawyer brand). It’ll last a few washes and is a great choice for hiking pants, boots, and backpacks.
Pets & Wildlife
Treating your pets can keep them protected from ticks, and it can help reduce the tick populations around your home if it’s an outside animal. Ask your vet what’s best for your pets - my usual recommendation is a Seresto Collar, since it’ll last all summer and you won’t forget it each month. Treating your dog’s skin each month with K9 Advantix works well. We usually avoid knock-off or generic flea and tick meds since they don’t seem to be effective.
Keep in mind that lots of dogs use Trifexis tablets for fleas and heartworms. While it works great on fleas, it doesn’t provide protection against ticks and mosquitoes and should be supplemented during warmer months.
While they may carry lots of fleas around, opossums tend to eat a lot of ticks and can be helpful around your yard. There are a handful of other critters that eat ticks (like spiders and birds), but they’re not significant enough to make a big difference in the population according to the University of Maine.
Habitat Modifications
If your main area of concern is your backyard, not the trail, there are a few modifications that might make a big difference in your backyard tick population. Ticks flourish in areas that are shady, damp, and overgrown.
The UT Extension recommends mowing your grass (6” or less is a good target).
Remove brush piles, leaf piles, and overgrowth.
Ask an arborist about pruning your trees to let a bit more sunlight into the yard.
Professional Treatments
If you’ve checked most of the boxes above and are still having issues with ticks, it may be time for some help. Ticks rarely live indoors, so a tick control program should really focus on the yard and landscape around the home. There are a few “eco-friendly” products available for tick control, but we haven’t been particularly satisfied with the DIY or professional products that are out there.
At Pest Tech, we usually treat the shady areas, longer turf, and perimeter of the yard with a pyrethroid to kill ticks that are present and reduce ticks that may enter the yard in the future. This service usually runs monthly from April through October.