Safeguarding Against TICKS

TICKS.  Just the word makes my skin crawl.  Living in the Northeast, we've always known to look out for them after spending time in the woods or tall, grassy fields but recently the amount of ticks has seemed to reach plague status.  We're now finding ticks places where they should just NOT be - including short trimmed lawns, sandy areas, even in our asphalt driveway.  There's more ticks than ever, with many of them likely carrying potentially debilitating diseases like Lyme.  Because of the great risk, we're not taking chances any more and have taken precautions to protect our yard and ourselves against ticks.  | This post contains affiliate links |

DISCLAIMER:  I am not an expert or medical professional.  These are tips and information I've learned over the years living in a tick-prone area.  Always check with your own doctor, vet, and local experts for the best prevention and treatment plans for yourself and your family.

Safeguarding your Yard

Eliminate Tick Habitats  

Ticks like to hide and breed in brushy areas, leaf litter, log piles, dampness, etc.  It's important to eliminate these places.  Keep your lawn cut short, trim back bushes and over hanging tree branches to maximize sun exposure to your lawn, get rid of compost piles or move them as far away from your usable yard as possible.  Also make sure to thatch (rake and scrape) your entire lawn every spring - this will reduce the litter mat under your lawn.  

Deter Mice 

Believe it or not mice, and not necessarily deer, are one of the biggest culprits at carrying ticks and transmitting diseases carried by ticks. A single mouse can easily carry and feed hundreds of baby ticks on it's body. If you have mice in your yard and around your house, they are dropping ticks. To deter them eliminate brush and log piles and spray peppermint oil around sheds, decks, and other places they might nest or hide. Mice hate peppermint oil (they are very sensitive to smells) and will generally avoid the areas where it's been sprayed. Also, make sure to get rid of bird feeders in your yard since dropped bird seed with attract mice and other small rodents.

Get Guinea Hens or Chickens

Okay, so this tip certainly isn't for everyone - but guinea hens and chickens can be very effective at reducing the tick population in your yard.  As they free-range they forage for bugs, including ticks, and can eat a lot throughout the day.  Guinea hens are particularly known for their tick-eating abilities but can be harder to keep than chickens.  Make sure to do your homework and talk to your neighbors as a courtesy before getting guineas or chickens.  

Tick-Repelling Plants 

Ticks do not like certain plants - including lemongrass, lavender, sage, and mint.  Planting these can help keep ticks away, at least in the immediate area of the plant.  We make sure to include these in flowerbeds and planters around paths, our deck, and doorways to help deter ticks from hanging around these high-traffic areas.  

Tick Tubes

By selectively placing Tick Tubes around your property, you can help kill off the ticks that are hitching a ride on mice and other small rodents that may not have been deterred by the peppermint oil. Tick Tubes contain permethrin-soaked cotton and are placed in areas where these rodents frequent (brush piles, under decks/sheds, in stone walls, etc). Rodents take the cotton and use them in their nests. Permethrin will not hurt the rodents, but will kill the baby ticks riding on them.

Have Your Yard Sprayed

Last year was the first year we actually had our yard professionally sprayed - despite all our best efforts, the ticks in our area were just out of control.  We chose to have our yard sprayed with an all-natural spray option because we had chickens, a toddler, and a veggie garden.  We were very pleased with the results and only saw one or two ticks in our yard for the rest of the summer.  There are many spray options available out there - from all-natural to chemical-based.  There are pros and cons to every option, so it's important to discuss your concerns and situation to your pest-specialist when choosing a treatment plan.  

Despite our best efforts - short lawn, maximum sun exposure to the backyard, keeping chickens, etc. - there were still lots of ticks (as seen here on our daughter's playhouse). Soon after this we decided to have our yard professionally treated for ticks and it helped immensely.

Safeguarding your Family

Bug Spray

Whenever we spend time outside, we use bug spray each and every time. Typically we use an all-natural repellent, especially for our little one, but bug sprays containing DEET are supposed to be even more effective.

Permethrin-Treated Shoes and Clothing

Permethrin is supposed to be one of the best tick deterrents around (it's also what's used in Tick Tubes). By pre-treating your shoes and outer clothing with it, it can be very effective at keeping ticks off of you. We treat all of our shoes, yard work clothes, and hiking gear with permethrin. Check the label for exact instructions, but many permethrin treatments are good for several washes or 40 days so it's great for lasting protection. We've personally had the best luck with Sawyer Permethrin Spray.

Most Importantly:  Check for Ticks - Twice

The most important safety measure against ticks is always checking for ticks - at least twice.  Despite all your best efforts, yard treatments, and bug sprays, you can still pick up ticks.  For us, we've come up with our own protocol to thoroughly check for ticks whenever we come in from spending time outdoors.  We're lucky enough to have a bathroom/laundry room right by our back door, so as soon as we come in we stop in to put all the clothes we wore directly into the washing machine and shut the door (shoes are left in the garage and not brought into the house).  Then we thoroughly check for ticks - paying close attention to check those hard-to-see areas and scalp; a full-length mirror can be very helpful with this. Then, if possible, take a shower or bath next before getting dressed in fresh clothes.  Ticks won't drown but thoroughly washing right after you come in will hopefully rinse any missed un-attached ticks off of you.  Then that night before going to bed, make sure to do a second tick check just to confirm that nothing was missed earlier in the day.  

You might think this tick-checking protocol is a little overboard, but if you live in a tick-prone area (like the Northeast) it's unfortunately very necessary.  After following this protocol for two years now, we have had instances where we found dead ticks in our dryer lint trap (it's actually the high heat of the dryer that kills them - not the washing machine) and a live one on the shower wall once... these were ticks that were on us but were stopped by our thorough system.  

Safeguarding your Pets

Up-to-Date on Preventatives and Vaccines

Talk with your vet about the best tick preventative option (collars, topical, oral medication, etc) for your pets and make sure you keep on schedule with it, even during the winter months.  You might not think that ticks are out in the winter since they go dormant, but even a brief warm streak can bring them out.  

Check for Ticks

It's a very good idea to check your pets for ticks when bringing them in as well, since ticks can "ride in" on them. We have a black lab which is particularly tricky to check, so we make sure to keep a brush and a lint roller by the back door to check her before coming in. We stop her outside and brush out her coat, then use the lint roller to roll over her legs, underbelly, and snout to make sure no ticks are hitching a ride. We also vacuum carpets and her dog beds often to make sure none get dropped around the house in the event we miss one.

If you Find an Attached Tick

**Always call your doctor right away for the best advice for your situation**

If you find an attached tick, remove it carefully without squeezing it's body - you do not want it to potentially expel any more toxins into you. Tick Spoons can be particularly helpful in removing them; we also like Tick Keys which fit handily on your keychain so it's always with you. Then wash the area with antibacterial first aid wash and call your doctor immediately. The doctor will help determine whether you need to start medications right away or wait and see if symptoms develop.
Don't count on seeing the hallmark "bulls-eye rash" though - many people who contract Lyme will never get it. Make sure to keep the removed tick as well (you can stick it in an empty jar), and see about getting it tested right away for Lyme and other diseases. This will give you the quickest and most definitive answer since even if you did contract Lyme yourself from the tick you would not test positive for it for some time.

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DISCLAIMER:  I am NOT an expert or medical professional.  These are tips and information I've learned over the years living in a tick-prone area.  Always check with your own doctor, vet, and local experts for the best prevention and treatment plans for yourself and your family.  Discuss with your doctor ahead of time what to do in the event of a tick bite (and I hope you never need to use that information).  Stay vigilant and stay safe!  

Update: Attack of the Garden Pests

Last week I brought you my epic battle against Japanese beetles and webworms... to update in short:  Me: 0, Japanese beetles: 1.  

So as you probably remember, I've been waging a war against some of the most annoying (in my opinion) garden pests around.  For today's update I have some good news and bad news... Good news:  there are no more signs of webworm and no further damage to our lilac bush!  Hooray!! 

Bad news:  the Japanese beetles are back and hungrier than before.  First I tried brushing and picking them off my plants and dropping them in a bucket of soapy water.  The results were instantaneous and I would have been hard pressed to find any beetles left on my plants by the time I was done; I also set up a Japanese beetle trap away from the garden and caught many bugs right away.  I thought I was in the clear but decided to wait several days to see how things went.  

Nearly a week later I'm back to report on my progress - I haven't touched the bean plants at all because I wanted to see if my efforts had any lasting effect.  And folks, I'm here now to tell you.. it didn't.  The trap has in fact caught more beetles, but it's not an outrageous amount (there's maybe 1-2 inches of beetles in the bottom of the trap, we caught about 1 inch of beetles within the first day) and my bean plants are suffering more damage by the day!  There are less beetles on them than there were a week ago, but they certainly found their way back and seem to be doing even more damage than before.  

In conclusion, next time I'll save my money and skip buying the Japanese beetle trap.  I'll stick to taking the beetles off the plants dropping them in a bucket of soapy water, though this process will have to become a daily one at our home until those pesky beetles are gone for good.  

Attack of the garden pests!

For the past week at Birch Landing Home, we've been under attack - first by an absurd amount of Japanese beetles, and then by webworms!  Yuck.  
Read on for tips on how to combat these awful garden pests...

Japanese Beetles

Earlier in the week, I went in the garden to check how everything was doing.  I was greeted with THIS:  

Japanese beetles were all over my beans, eating the leaves until there was nothing left.  They were doing so much damage and I was not happy!  

Unfortunately with Japanese beetles, when there's one he'll tell all his friends (via pheromones) and more and more will come.  Obviously these beetles told everyone in the tri-state area to come and bring a friend.  

The best way to get rid of them is to pluck them off by hand and throw them in a bucket of soapy water to kill them.  The quicker they're gone and not releasing pheromones, the less beetles will find your yard.  Plucking beetles was not something I wanted to do, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  

Another popular solution is to put a beetle trap in your yard.. though some people argue that they can actually make the situation worse since they lure beetles to the trap (and therefore your yard).  I was desperate though and figured I might as well give the trap a shot too.  I made sure to put it away from the garden and away from where we usually spend time (the lure is poisonous, keep that in mind).  Right away we caught quite a few beetles!  I'm sure these first ones were in the yard anyways and not ones that we lured in.  

We'll see if there's improvement.. I'll post an update on the Japanese beetles in a few days.  

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Webworms (aka Tent Caterpillars)

Then just when I thought I was getting a grasp on the Japanese beetle plague, I noticed webworm (also known as tent caterpillars) nests in one of our lilac bushes.  These little baby caterpillars were already doing a number on the lilac bush, eating the leaves and smaller stems down to nothing.  These buggers had to go too.  

Webworm (aka tent caterpillar) nest.  The web keeps them safe from predators so they're free to make quick work of your foliage.  

A close up of the damage.. as you can see it's on multiple branches.  

The best way to get rid of these is to cut out the nest if possible, and then destroy it.  Luckily these nests were towards the ends of branches, so they were relatively easy to cut out.  (If you have a nest that can't be cut out, you can tear the nest open using a stick and hope that some birds or other bugs find the little caterpillar snacks.)

Hard to believe these teeny-tiny caterpillars can do so much damage!  

Once the nest is out you can put it in a sealed container and throw it away.  I didn't have any Tupperware or large jars I was willing to toss so I put the nest in a zip-lock, triple-bagged it, and threw it in the trash.  Some people recommend burning the nest, which might be a good option if you have a lot of nests to destroy.  

Another solution some people use is spraying the affected area with Neem.  It kills the caterpillars and is considered an all-natural insecticide.  I'm hoping that just cutting out the nests and staying on top of it will do the trick though.  

The damage to the lilac bush has been done, but I'm optimistic it will bounce back.  And in the meantime I'll keep a close eye on it in case any other webworm nests pop up.