Take that, suckers!
Safer Strategies for Dealing with Ticks
by Billie Karel
translated by Francisco Cabral, vea esta artículo en español

An adult deer tick. Actual size: about the same as a sesame seed.

Don't let ticks ruin your summer's outdoor adventures! These nasty suckers feed on your blood, conjuring up images of tiny bug-shaped vampires – yuck. They can also spread disease, most notably Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme’s Disease. There’s no way to be completely rid of them, but take heart: there are ways to minimize your risk of tick bites without dousing yourself or your yard in toxic pesticides.

Insect repellents and you

Many sources recommend using insect repellents to keep ticks at bay. However, many insect repellents containing toxic pesticides – most commonly DEET – have some serious potential side effects, especially for children, and aren’t really necessary for most everyday needs. There are several less toxic herbal repellents available that are effective against ticks, and whether you use a repellent or not, thorough tick checks upon returning from hiking and yard work are imperative. Once a tick has bitten, it takes at least 6 hours, and in many cases 24 hours or more to transmit disease (1). That means you have some time to find and remove them before they do any real harm. Check out another article in this newsletter, “What’s the deal with insect repellents?” for more of the story on DEET and safer alternatives.

Around the yard

Ticks need “blood meals” (gross!) to complete their life cycle. In order to find that meal, they normally crawl up onto plants and stick their legs out, waiting to grab hold of a warm-blooded creature walking by. It’s not quite as random as it sounds, though: they know just where to wait for their new hosts because they’re attracted to the carbon dioxide that we exhale. All this means that you’re most likely to pick up ticks from brushing against mid-height plants: bushes, small or low-hanging trees, tall grass, etc. Mowing and pruning are your best friends in this case! In your own yard, you can help a lot by keeping the grass mowed and bushes and trees pruned back away from walkways, patios and play areas. When out in the woods and other areas likely to have ticks, stick to pathways and avoid “bushwhacking” through tall grass and brush.

Mice, rats and other rodents are common hosts for many varieties of ticks, so one way to cut down ticks is to cut down on rodents! Woodpiles and bird feeder spillover areas are favorite rodent hangouts – consider moving both well away from the house and away from patios and play areas. Tick tubes are a least-toxic pesticide product designed to use where mice are the main tick host, and they are particularly recommended for areas with big deer tick problems. The cardboard tick tubes come pre-filled with permethrin-treated cotton fluff, which mice will take to use for bedding material in their nests. It is important to keep these tubes away from areas where children or pets may find them. Ticks are most effectively reduced in the second and subsequent years of using this product, so some patience is required!

A tick drack in use. Photo courtesy of Colorado State University.

Tick “drags” and “flags”
Ticks are a drag, but tick drags and flags are pretty cool! They are homemade tick traps that you can use to temporarily reduce tick populations in a particular area – such as around a campsite or picnic area. Or, if you use them in the same area every couple weeks, they can help to keep the tick population under control. The basic idea is that a piece of thick white cloth (flannel is perfect) is slowly dragged over the surface of grass and brush in likely tick hangout areas. The ticks grab on, thinking the fabric is a possible host. From there, you either pick ticks off the fabric with tweezers and drop them into a jar of soapy water or rubbing alcohol, or plunge the whole piece of fabric into soapy water. The only challenge with this method is that the person using the drag or flag is very prone to ticks themselves, so they should take precautions – pants tucked into socks, repellent applied to clothing, and a thorough tick inspection afterwards – to ensure they are not bitten.
Tick drags are best used for grassy areas and low brush. Directions to make a simple tick drag: Attach a piece of light-colored flannel about 4x6 feet to a piece of wood or plastic piping about 5ft long. Use ties, Velcro, or something else easy to detach and reattach. Use 6 ft lengths of rope tied at each end of the stick to pull the drag.
Tick flags work best for medium-height brush. Attach a piece of fabric about 3ft by 3ft to a piece of wood or plastic tubing 4 or 5 ft long, using staples, tacks or Velcro. Then pass the fabric over brush to pick up ticks!

On Pets

Many of us encounter ticks when they are carried in on an outdoor dog or cat. One tip is to get a lint roller – the kind you’d normally use to remove pet hair from sweaters and sofas – or make one with tape, and roll it right on your pet! Run the roller over them right before they come inside from a walk in the woods or a visit to the park. Focus especially on their legs and belly, and you’ll pick up any unattached ticks that are crawling around there. Otherwise, our advice for controlling ticks on your pets closely mirrors our advice for controlling fleas:

• Use a flea comb on your pet to pick up unattached ticks as well as fleas.
• Vacuum frequently to pick up dropped ticks. Immediately dispose of the vacuum bag in your outdoor garbage can.
• During the height of flea & tick season, wash pet bedding often (weekly or more) in hot water, and use the highest heat setting in the dryer. Add half a cup of borax powder to the wash with or instead of your regular laundry soap to make extra sure to kill all the ticks.
• Diatomaceous earth can be applied to carpets, pet sleeping areas, dog houses and kennels, and even to the pet itself to kill ticks as well as fleas and other pests. It is a fine powder that is not chemically active, but because it is so fine, it scratches up insects, causing them to dry out and die. Follow the label instructions closely. Basic instructions for using DE on carpeting and furniture are to sprinkle it on and rub it in with a broom or brush. Leave it on for several hours or overnight and then vacuum it up. To use it in structures like doghouses and sheds, DE powder should be blown or swept into cracks and crevices. To use it directly on a pet, simply pour a little bit along the pet’s spine, and work the powder into their fur. Be cautious when using DE – though it is not considered to be toxic, it is a very fine powder that can irritate your lungs if you breathe it in, so you may want to wear a dust mask, and take care not to apply it near your pet’s face.

For more information, check out Toxic Free NC’s previous article on safer strategies for fleas & ticks, and ask your veterinarian for advice on the least-toxic and most effective products.

Tick removal

Whether a tick has bitten you or a pet, the advice is the same: don't squeeze the tick! Squeezing the body of the tick could push the contents of the tick's stomach into your bloodstream, and increase your chances of an infection. So, try to control your repulsion long enough to get the tweezers, and grab the tick right next to the skin, by its mouthparts, and then pull it out without squeezing its body. Once it is removed, don’t squish it with your bare hands! Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in particular can be transmitted easily from the squished tick through your skin. If the tick has bitten a person, you might consider saving it in case it’s needed later for diagnostic purposes. To do that, stick the tick on a piece of tape to immobilize it, then seal in a small Ziploc bag, label it with the date and put it in the freezer. If no symptoms of illness develop within a couple weeks, you can throw out the frozen tick. Clean the bite area well, and keep an eye on it over the coming days. If there's any sign of an infection, such as a target-shaped rash around the bite or rashes on wrists and ankles, get to a doctor ASAP!

Ticks are pretty gross, but we hope that armed with this advice (and a strong stomach), you can keep them from ruining your summer adventures in the great outdoors.

Sources:

General: Olkowski, W., S. Daar and H. Olkowski. 1991. Common Sense Pest Control. Newton, CT: Taunton Press. p. 264 – 279.

(1) Dr. David Walker, Univ. of Texas, Galveston, Infectious Diseases, on The People's Pharmacy radio show. Chapel Hill: WUNC Radio. Program number 722. Aired July 3, 2010.
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2010/07/03/722-tick-borne/

Toxic Free News is a publication of
Toxic Free NC
206 New Bern Place, Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 833-5333, Toll-free 1-877-NO-SPRAY
, http://www.toxicfreenc.org

Mission: Toxic Free NC advocates for alternatives to toxic pesticides in North Carolina by empowering people to make sound decisions about their health and environment.

Staff: Ana Duncan Pardo, Communications Coordinator; Billie Karel, Program Director; Fawn Pattison, Executive Director; Ileana Rodriguez, Administrative Associate.

Interns: Michael Marion, YouTube Outreach Coordinator; Kathryn Newman, Farm to Childcare Intern; Hannah Silver, LoveBug Intern; April Simon, Farm Worker Documentary Intern; Melissa Tosiano, Pesticide Researcher Intern; Laura Valencia, Women without Borders Intern.

Board of Directors: Colleen Boudreau, Treasurer; Juan Echeverria; Ghassan Hamra; Laxmi Haynes; Mindy Hiteshue; Cathy Jones; Michelle Nowlin, President; Annie O'Leary; Katherine M. Shea, Immediate Past President; Allen Spalt.
Emeritus Board Members: Billie Rogers, Jane Sharp MacRae, Erick Umstead.

Community Leadership Council: Melissa Bailey, Myriam Hudson, Mary James, Silvia Peterson.

Subscribe, unsubscribe, or update your subscription information.