How To Treat Fleas In The Yard
Fleas thrive in warm or humid weather and can lay up to 50 eggs each day.
Your lawn and yard can act as a breeding ground for fleas, which can then hitch a ride on your pet and be brought inside to wreak havoc in your home. Fleas are no small problem, either: They can lay up to 50 eggs a day, and their bites can cause sores and rashes. If conditions are right, they can live up to two years.
It can be hard to spot fleas in the yard, as these reddish-brown, wingless, narrow-bodied pests are rarely bigger than 1/6 of an inch long. A simple way to determine whether you have fleas in your yard is to put on a pair of tall white athletic socks and walk around your yard, especially near spots your pet likes to frequent. If fleas are present, theyll show up on your socks.
Heres how to treat fleas in the yard and make your lawn less attractive to them.
If fleas have already invaded your home, take these 5 additional steps to get rid of fleas. Note that its important to attack fleas in all areas of the house at one time.
Biology Of Ticks And Their Life Cycle
There are over 800 species of ticks. Although they commonly called insects, they arent insects as they have 8 legs. Rather, ticks are a member of the arachnid class, the same family as spiders.
Chemicals that are designed to call ticks are called acaricides, and they will kill other arachnids such as spiders and mites. Be aware that broad spectrum pesticides may kill other beneficial insects such as honey bees and lady bugs.
Ticks secrete an anesthetic and then burrow into the skin of their victim. Females tend to be a bit larger, and they can reach up to 1/2 after a meal. They tend to feed on mammals and other warm blooded animals. They feed on blood, and they may go undetected for several days. During the process of feeding, they can transmit diseases including Lymes and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Ticks are hitchhikers. They get around by attaching themselves to other animals that become their host. Ticks can only crawl they neither fly nor jump. They are usually found up to 18 to 24 . They can often be found on tips of grass in shady areas or shrub leaves as this makes it easier for them to grab on to their prey. When they are brushed by an animal or person, they quickly release and climb onto their prey. This is one of the reasons its important to wears shoes, socks and pants when you are in tick infested areas.
Where Do Ticks Typically Hide
It may seem as though ticks drop down from tree branches, because they’re often found hidden in hair. However, they actually start closer to the ground. Favorite hiding spots include naturalized or unmown areas with weeds and tall grasses, especially when those spots are humid and shady.
When lawns are nearby, ticks move into mowed areas, too. But more than 80% stay in the lawn’s outer 9 feet. Low-lying ground covers and low-hanging shrubs in gardens or foundation plantings are also prime spots for ticks.
Ticks typically move onto humans or animals that brush against grasses or weeds when passing by. Then ticks climb upward and find a spot to bite and feed. An estimated 75% of tick bites occur from ticks picked up during normal home activities such as , playing with pets and kids, or entertaining friends.1
Engorged female ticks lay thousands of eggs.
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What To Do If You Find A Tick
Even after your yard has been treated for ticks, it is still vital to check yourself and your pets after you come in from the outdoors. Common areas where ticks like to hide include your scalp, armpits, underneath your shoes and in your pets fur. If you find a tick, carefully remove it with tweezers, wash your clothes in hot water and shower immediately. Keep a close eye on any bite marks for any signs of Lyme disease.
Treating your yard for ticks is essential for the well-being of you, your family and your pets. Keep your yard pest-free by contacting Venice Pest Control today! With over 40 years of experience, we are confident that we will get the job done correctly.
Eliminate Eggs That Are On The Leaf Litter
Tick eggs are usually fertilized in the fall season. They are deposited in the leaf litter during the winter and spring season. This is the reason why you may want to treat your yard with tick spray. Professional tick spray can be very useful to eliminate any eggs on the leaf litter. Using this spray will get access to all surfaces of your yard. Eggs have no place to hide, even though they are deposited on the leaf litter. It is recommended for you to use the tick spray from the spring season before the eggs are hatched.
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Flea And Tick Control Prevents Tick Bites
You might already know that ticks cause Lyme disease. And maybe youve heard they can give you rocky Mountain spotted fever, too. But these critters dont stop there. In fact, theyre second only to mosquitoes in spreading disease to humans. the tiny pest is a parasite and is hungry for your blood. While you will likely not feel a bite, you will find a blood swollen tick on your body if it bites you. It is important to pull the tick out carefully, ensuring the head doesnt get pull off in the process.
Fall Is The Best Time To Control Tick Populations
Rolf Brandt, Arborist The Care of Trees
Fall is your best time to control tick populations: More than 300,000 cases of Lyme Disease are reported to the Center for Disease Control each year making it the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. It is spread by the black-legged tick, commonly referred to as the deer tick though it is more likely to be spread to your yard by mice or squirrels.
Although ticks can bite at any time of the year, according to Rolf Brandt, arborist for The Care of Trees in Mt. Kisco, ticks are most active in the beginning of fall. Because as many as 90% of tick bites occur in your own yard, reducing the tick population on the property surrounding your home is your best defense against tick-borne illnesses.
Where do ticks live? Ticks live in damp and shaded areas of your property, such as stone walls, overgrown gardens and wood and brush piles, he told us. General fall clean-up programs like clearing brush piles and weeding gardens help give them fewer places to hide but we recommend a safe and ecologically friendly tick suppression program to control tick populations in your yard.
Whats involved in a pro-active tick suppression program. Rolf Brandt laid some options out for us:
Adult female deer tick
Pesticides: Pesticides for ticks can reduce the number of ticks in your yard. Only small amounts of these control products applied at the right time of year are necessary.
A breeding ground for ticks
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Bayer 700288s Advanced Complete Insect Killer
The Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer has a proprietary formula thats effective on soil and surface pests. The soil insects will start dying out in 12 weeks surface insects within a day after they come into contact with this spray. One container should be enough for about 5,000 square feet.
Along with fleas, we may expect ticks, mole crickets, crane flies, and ants to stop bothering us after we spray this in our lawn. Its not just the adults, either, but also the larvae and grubs. Some users hoped that killing the grubs would also do away with moles too, but that didnt work as well as expected.
This insect killer gets an Amazon rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. The price range is between $19 and $30 which is affordable for most.
How To Spray Your Yard For Ticks
David Beaulieu is a landscaping expert and plant photographer, with 20 years of experience.
The Spruce / Alex Dos Diaz
- Skill Level: Intermediate
- Estimated Cost: $25
Ticks can spread Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and several other ailments, though most bites don’t result in illness. But it’s still important to consider ways to minimize their presence in your yard. There are multiple ways to approach this. You can keep ticks from coming into your yard by restricting animals that carry ticks, such as deer, and by making your landscape less tick-friendly. You also can deter or kill ticks by applying pesticides along the yard perimeter, though these products often come with their own health and environmental risks.
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Bioadvanced 700288s Complete Insect Killer
This 10-pound bag of pellets provides three months of protection for up to 10,000 square feet. It kills over 30 insects, including ticks, and starts taking effect within 24 hours of the first application. You can use this tick killer on soil, flowers, trees, shrubs, and any other penetrable surfaces in your yard.
BioAdvanced 700288S Complete Insect Killer
Flea And Tick Control For Lawns: The Who What Where When & Why
6 min read
The presence of fleas and ticks in your yard is a nuisance. But these pests can be more than just pesky. They can be dangerous to your pets, your children and you. Flea and tick bites are painful, and can transmit diseases directly to people or via your pets . You certainly do not want your children or your pets to accidentally track these pests into your home.
Well explore why flea and tick control for your lawn is so important, answering your questions concerning who does it, what it is, where they should treat, and when you should have it done. First of all, the whywhich is simple: to protect you and your family from pests.
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Knowing The Deer Ticks Life Cycle Is Important When Treating
The deer ticks life cycle occurs over the span of a year. Beginning in March and throughout April, adult ticks are laying their eggs. Several weeks later, the larvae emerge and must feed in order to molt into nymphs. The larvae will feed on small mammals like mice.
After the larvae have had their first meal, they will molt into nymphs. The nymphal stage is the most significant to people. Deer tick nymphs are very small and are more likely to feed on larger mammals like dogs and humans. In the fall, the nymph deer ticks molt into adults and prepare to reproduce to start the cycle over again.
The Ultimate In Landscape Related Tick And Mosquito Control
Create a Cedar Dome Over Your Property and Keep Out Nuisance Insects All Year Long!!!
We have all become acutely aware that ticks and mosquitos are a real threat to our health. Aside from being disease carriers and threatening our children and our pets they are truly a nuisance all season long! Our BeeSafe Cedar Dome service creates a barrier on the ground, in the trees, along your foundation and along your property lines that protects you from all nuisance insects.
Because we believe VERY STRONGLY in minimizing the environmental impact of insecticide use we have chosen a product that DOES NOT HARM THE ENVIRONMENT AND IS NOT HARMFUL TO BEES. Our concentrated Cedar Oil is extremely effective at controlling and repelling a long list of nuisance insects including ticks, black flies and mosquitoes.
The program includes 8 visits to your home. We will do two treatments in the spring, two in the fall and a concentrated schedule of four visits over the summer when insect pressure is most severe.
How does the Cedar Dome work?
On the Ground:
We spray a concentrated cedar solution on your lawn and landscape beds. The result is an elimination of ticks and other turf damaging insects.
Around your Foundation Plantings:
Many insects, especially mosquitoes congregate around plants especially during daylight hours.
In the Air:
Along your Wood Lines:
The BeeSafe Cedar Dome is a premium, all-inclusive insect control system. If you want to keep nuisance insects out, build a Cedar Dome now!
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Ortho Ticks And Spiders Effective Bugclear Insect Killer 20 Lb
Its easy to use too simply apply this granular insecticide around your foundation and yard, and youll create a bug-free haven. Plus, it provides up to 20,000 square feet of coverage, making it ideal for large lawns and gardens. The bag can be a little deceptive because its not big enough to accommodate all the bugs it eliminates. Also, it is not a Grubb control spray. So dont let these pests ruin your summer fun pick up a bottle of Ortho Insect Killer today.
Pros
- Quickly kills ticks and spiders
- Long-lasting protection
- Not a Grubb control spray
Syngenta A12690a Demand Cs
The Syngenta spray gives us about 90 days of pest control, including cockroaches, ants, fleas, spiders, scorpions, etc. Its a super-strong option which can knock pests out in around 15 minutes. We may also expect the results to last a long time, even several months.
This spray will have even large pests like scorpions running away when it hits them. Plus, it prevents insects from crawling in your personal lawn space again. The price is quite steep, but the concentrated amount lasts a long time.
This spray has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon. The price range starts from a steep $50 for an 8-ounce container and goes up to $65.
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The Importance Of Flea And Tick Control
Fleas
Fleas are the most common parasitic animal to torture and annoy your beloved best friend. They are wingless insects that feed on blood, jump up to two feet high, and thrive in warm, humid environments.
Why Fleas Are So Problematic
- Flea infestations can quickly get out of control because a female flea can produce up to 2,000 eggs in one lifetime.
- As an adult, fleas spend most of their lives laying eggs within the fur of your furry pets.
- These eggs drop out of your pets fur and inside of your home, burying in your rug, upholstery, bedding, and furniture. Once hatched, the new fleas will seek out a living host.
- Fleas can consume 15 times their body weight in blood, which can cause anemia or significant blood loss for small or young pets.
- Some pets can develop severe allergic reactions to flea saliva called Flea Allergy Dermatitis. This can cause itching that may last long after the fleas are gone.
- Fleas are responsible for transmitting the dog tapeworm, Dipylidium Caninum, to dogs, cats, and even humans.
- Fleas can carry murine typhus
Ticks
Ticks can carry harmful diseases to humans and pets, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Ticks hang out in grass, shrubs, bushes, and trees, waiting to catch a ride on the nearest warm body, be it human or pet.
Other tick carrying diseases that can harm humans and our beloved dogs and cats include:
- General irritation that makes you, your dog, or cat uncomfortable
When Should Flea And Tick Control Occur
The timing and rates of product usage are critical to its overall success. Fleas and ticks first appear each year in Ohio and Northern Kentucky in the spring, which is when we start spraying. At Oasis Turf & Tree, we begin applications in mid-April and go through mid-September, at approximately six-week intervals, for a total of four treatments in the year.
Our flea and tick program also targets ants in your yard, providing the additional benefit of reducing these pesky, picnic-spoiling bugs throughout your lawn at the same time we are protecting you against the more dangerous pests.
As previously mentioned, however, dont assume that treating your yard for fleas and ticks means you can stop treating your pets. The more safeguards you have against these nasty pests, the better. We advise that homeowners treat their pets and their yards. The more layers of protection you have, the better off youll be.
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Why Get Flea And Tick Control From Oasis Turf & Tree
Weve already mentioned what we know is probably your main reason for considering flea and tick control, and thats protection, which we can provide. Furthermore, applying the product correctly and safely is critical to its success, so having a professional handle this service for you ensures you have done all you can to guard your family and your pets from these worrisome pests.
While fleas and ticks are two of homeowners biggest concerns, our flea and tick control program does target crawling insects in your lawn so you get the added benefit of keeping other pests like ants from ruining your time in your backyard. That provides our clients some nice peace of mind knowing their entire yard is covered.
For more information on flea and tick control, contact us for a free consultation or give us a call at 513-697-9090 so that we can answer any questions.
