Why Ticks Don't Invade Homes
Most common pests that are a problem outdoors — ants and spiders come to mind — occasionally venture and are discovered indoors at some point. But have you ever noticed you almost never encounter a tick indoors?
Ever wonder why?
While ants and spiders might make themselves perfectly at home in your house, ticks don’t stick around long if they do make their way indoors. There are actually several reasons why.
Tick Populations May Be Exploding, But the Buck Stops at Your Front Door
Ticks thrive in hot, humid environments, and most people keep the humidity in their homes way lower than a tick’s preferred 90%. That’s because both heat and air conditioning dry out interior air.
In fact, some species of ticks, like deer ticks, usually die within about 24 hours of becoming trapped indoors. That’s why pretty much any tick you see indoors was brought in recently — usually on a pet or human returning from a jaunt out into nature, where ticks are plentiful.
Plus, regardless of how big your family might be, there just isn’t much prey for ticks to “hunt” indoors — at least not compared to the wide variety of wildlife available for them outdoors.
Chances of Finding a Tick Indoors Increases With the Population in Your Yard
Because ticks get indoors by way of hitchhiking, one factor more than all others increases the odds exponentially of finding a tick inside your home. That factor is a matter of how booming the tick population is in your yard.
If your yard has a lot of brush or tall grasses, it’s a veritable breeding ground for ticks. That’s doubly true if you have a lot of leaf litter. Cleaning up and tidying up your yard can go a long way to reducing tick populations, but it can only go so far.
Ticks Are Among the Most Dangerous Pests in New England
The problem with ticks goes well beyond the ick-factor of having to pluck a bloodsucking parasite off yourself or your pet. Having a tick attached to your body is a ticking time bomb, with a potentially devastating disease as a possible result.
Of the nearly dozen or so diseases carried by ticks, the most worrisome are Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, both of which can turn deadly if left untreated.
Anywhere from about 20% to 30% of all ticks in North America are infected with Lyme disease, which can cause joint swelling, irregular heartbeat, lethargy, and even death. And the only way to guarantee you don’t develop Lyme disease is to not get bitten by a tick of any kind, ever.
Treatment Can Knock Down the Tick Population in Your Yard by as Much as 90%
Hands down, the best way to protect yourself and your family (including your fur family) from tick-borne diseases is with a treatment like our tick control program.
Fewer ticks in your yard means fewer tick bites and a decreased chance of coming down with Lyme or any other disease for which ticks are a vector.
Don’t get ticked off about ticks this season — request a free quote today for our tick treatment program, which can reduce the tick population in your yard by more than 90%.
