Tick Pest Control

Another dreaded summer pest, ticks are often misunderstood by people. Ticks, along with their smaller counterpart, fleas, are parasites that live off of the blood of animals, including people. They frequently target companion animals, such as dogs and cats, and for many years were really considered a pet-related nuisance. However, with increased knowledge of tick-borne illnesses, people are becoming more concerned about eradicating ticks and preventing the possibility of bites.

Ticks live in the outdoors and are usually only brought indoors if they are actively feeding on a host, such as a pet or a person. Therefore, unlike fleas, it is extremely unusual to find tick infestations in a home. Instead, tick extermination and prevention usually focuses on the outside, especially areas with grass, trees, shrubs, and brush or leaf piles. Ticks will attach themselves to hosts, including dogs, cats, and other companion animals. They are equally happy to attach themselves to humans.

Ticks vary in appearance depending on whether or not they are full of blood. They look a little bit like beans with eight legs. That is right- eight legs! While many people think of ticks as bugs, they are actually arachnids, like spiders. They are generally small critters, but can range from just about the size of a pinhead to as large as a pencil eraser. They grow as they take in blood, so that fully-fed ticks can be significantly larger, reaching almost the size of a marble. They can also be various colors from a red-brown to a blue-green.

If you have been in an area with ticks, it is important to check your body for possible ticks. They like warm, moist places, so you want to check your armpits, groin, and hair. Have a friend check areas you cannot see. The longer a tick is attached to a host, the greater the chance that it can transmit a disease. You can carefully remove a tick, because if you wait for an engorged tick to detach itself it can take up to 10 days.

It is important to be vigilant about ticks because they can transmit diseases. Two of these diseases, Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, can lead to very serious illness in people. You should seek medical attention if you have a tick bite that is accompanied by a red spot or rash around the bite site, a full-body rash, headache, nausea, weakness, neck stiffness, muscle pain, joint pain, chills, swollen lymph nodes, or a fever.



Prevention is the best way to avoid tick bites. While there are steps you can take to avoid ticks when camping or hiking in the wilderness, a thorough extermination and pest-prevention program is the best way to avoid ticks when you are at home. Contact Dynamic Pest Control to find out how they can help eliminate ticks and prevent a reinfestation in your yard.