Tick Control

Adults can be smaller than a sunflower seed (over 1 cm long if engorged with blood), while tick larvae can be less than 1 mm. Ticks have only six legs during their larval stage and eight legs during their nymphal and adult stages. Ticks do not fly or jump, but they can latch onto fur, clothing, or skin. These pests often hitchhike indoors on pets or household pests like rats and mice. Tick infestation may also indicate a stray animal (opossum, raccoon, etc.) is living near a home. Exceptions to this rule are brown dog ticks, a species that survives and reproduces quite well inside, and soft ticks that sometimes invade structures searching for a host. These pests do not present much of a threat to well-built homes unless there is a host’s burrow or nest inside the structure. However, in rustic cabins or old, poorly constructed and maintained homes with multiple sources of entry, the pests may attempt to feed on humans before returning to their sheltered sites. According to a recent CDC statement, the number of illnesses caused by tick bites tripled between 2004 and 2016. Different species of ticks can transmit over 15 viruses and infections.