Spring is in the air and summer isn’t far behind. That means that more people are getting active and getting outside to enjoy the warm weather, but it also means the insects are breeding and getting more active as well. It’s time to start taking precautions as ticks, in particular, start to multiply. The warm weather gives ticks ample opportunity to emerge and find fresh new places to hang out, and they may choose to hang out with you! Pest control services help with preventative maintenance, but you should take a few more steps to protect yourself when you're outside, and at home.

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What's the Big Deal?
Most people don’t realize what a big deal ticks are. They see them as a nuisance and not much more than that. But the diseases that they spread and the infections that they can cause when they aren’t properly removed can be very serious. Lyme disease is one of the more serious and potentially devastating diseases that can be contracted from ticks.

Because it has so many symptoms and causes so many problems, people can go for years without being diagnosed with it, even after seeing multiple specialists.

Precautions to Reduce Tick Bites
There are several things that you can do to reduce the risk of being the next host for a tick. Always be sure that you conduct routine inspections on yourself and your loved ones after being outdoors.

• Wear a hat when you’re outside. This prevents ticks from landing in your hair.


• Wear pants and high socks with hiking boots rather than shorts and flip flops.


• Use a light mist of tea tree oil and water to coat your skin. It helps repel ticks and other insects.


• Try ingesting garlic at least once a day. It’s good for you, but insects like ticks don’t like the taste of it.


• Have your home inspected and treated for insects so that ticks are less likely to invade it.

 

Inspect and Remove
It’s not just important to remove the tick, but to make sure that you get all of it out, including the head. Don't grab the body and pull. Instead, coat the tick with some kind of oil and gently pull it off, head and all.

Invest in some environmentally friendly pest control in order to increase the chances that you and visitors to your home and yard being protected against ticks as the season warms up. For a free estimate for pest control services, give Thompson Brothers Pest Control a call today at 828.245.2669.