Why There Are so Many Ticks in Your Yard (and What to Do About It)
Ticks can find their way into your yard for a number of reasons . They cannot fly, so in many cases they are carried by wild animals and rodents: rats, mice, raccoons, opossums, deer, rabbits, bats, and even birds. Otherwise, they climb or traverse the vegetation or wood piles surrounding your property and make their home in places that are good for both feeding and breeding. Even if your yard is clean and tidy, trash in your neighbor’s yard can create easy migration paths.
Ticks are a nuisance as well as a health hazard as they can carry and transmit a number of diseases to humans . Dealing with ticks can require both prevention and treatment—here’s how to get them out of your yard.
Keep your yard clean
Ticks thrive in cool, moist, and shady environments, so tall grass is fertile soil. Keep your yard 3 to 4.5 inches – don’t let it grow larger than 5 to 6 inches – and cut weeds with a trimmer.
Also, grass clippings and leaf piles are prime habitats for mites and rodents that carry them, so rake and bag them rather than pile them up, and move wood piles away from any structures.
Create barriers with mulch or gravel
Since mites prefer vegetation, other materials can act as a physical barrier to their entry into and through your yard. Placing a 3-foot-wide layer of gravel or dry mulch around the perimeter of your property—at least at the edge of woodlands or your neighbor’s yard—can create a huge barrier to tick movement.
Protect your space from pests
While you may not be able to permanently drive all critters out of your yard, you can take steps to minimize what attracts them in the first place by planting deer-resistant plants , installing fencing, minimizing rodent-friendly habitat, and removing waste. compost, trash cans and other safe food sources. Never feed wild animals. Use resources for humane pest control when needed.
Targeted tick treatment
If preventive measures are not successful, you will have to change tactics to treatment. Tick tubes ( which you can buy or make yourself ) attract tick-carrying critters by making their fur less welcoming and killing the ticks without harming the animal. Tick bait boxes do the same and are effective because they attack the mites early in their life cycle, but they are usually more expensive .
You can use pesticides, but some experts say the risks are higher than the benefits.