Tick prevention makes a difference. Learn what keeps ticks away.

Ticks reach their peak activity in the spring and summer, but you can avoid them year-round. Learn about tick prevention tips, how to keep ticks away, and see how Terminix can help with tick control.

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Tick yard sprays and treatments

DIY tick prevention tips

Tick yard sprays and treatments

What is the best way to repel ticks? Professional sprays and yard treatments create a protective barrier around your property to prevent ticks from taking over. These treatments target tick habitats, such as tall grass, wooded areas, and shrubbery, using specialized solutions that kill ticks on contact and extend protection. By disrupting the tick life cycle and reducing their population, these treatments minimize the risk of tick bites for you, your family, and your pets.

At Terminix, we offer tick control services you can customize, including one-time and monthly targeted yard treatments for your property. Our trained professionals begin by identifying areas with ticks and spray barrier tick treatment on tick habitats and transition zones, like footpaths and overgrown near tick habitats. Tick control from Terminix can help keep ticks away for four to six weeks, protecting you when tick season is at its peak.

DIY tick prevention tips

There are steps you can take to prevent picking up a tick while you are outdoors. Tick prevention involves spraying your clothing with a good repellent, avoiding potentially tick-infested areas and wearing protective clothing when spending time outdoors. Learn what is the best prevention for ticks by following our steps below to help protect yourself from this parasite.

Use tick preventions

There are a number of tick prevention products you can use to apply to yourself and your pets. You can purchase over-the-counter tick repellents that contain DEET, permethrin, or picaridin for yourself and your family. These products will typically come in a spray that you can apply to your clothing before going outside. You can also purchase permethrin-treated clothing. This will help deter ticks from latching on. Always follow the product’s safety instructions.

Avoid tick-infested areas

Avoiding ticks when you are camping, hiking, or just spending time outdoors requires knowing what areas they will most likely be hiding in. Ticks prefer wooded areas with high grass and a lot of leaf litter. In particular, deer ticks like to live at ground level in shady areas that are high in moisture. When you go outside, stay away from tall grass, brush, or shrubs, as they tend to use this vegetation to latch on to animals walking by. You should also inspect areas in your garden or yard that are next to the edges of woods and stone walls.

Wear protective clothing

Sometimes you can’t avoid ticks in their territory. How to prevent tick bites in these scenarios comes down to strategy. Tick-protective clothing includes wearing long sleeves and pants whenever you plan to go on a hike or walk through forested areas. As an added precaution, tucking your pants into your socks will help prevent ticks from crawling up your legs.

Inspect yourself and pets

Some ticks are known to carry pathogens that cause serious diseases like Lyme disease. Knowing how to check yourself for ticks is one way you can protect yourself from picking up tick-borne illness if you are bitten. When you return home from being outdoors, conduct a full body check and inspect your pets, as well. Ticks can hitch a ride on your clothing or pets, then latch on later when they get the opportunity. Finding them before they get the chance will help prevent being infected with any tick-borne diseases they may be carrying. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using a mirror to check the following areas on your body:

  • Under the arms

  • In and around the ears

  • Inside the belly button

  • On the back of the knees

  • In and around the hair

  • Between the legs

  • Around the waist

Modify your yard

Last, if you want to avoid ticks, help keep them out of your yard. Ticks like to live where their hosts live, so if your yard is attracting other pests, such as rodents or birds, you will have to modify your yard for them, too. Here are some measures you can take:

  • Remove any leaf, wood, or debris piles that ticks and their hosts can use to hide.

  • Get professional help for any rodent infestations.

  • Create a border between your yard and any wooded areas using pea gravel or wood chips.

  • Consult a pest control specialist for pesticide treatment.

Want to know how to get rid of ticks for good? Our professionals at Terminix can inspect your yard free of charge and create a customized treatment plan. Contact Terminix today to find out how we can help.