posted
I was wondering....Is there a way to exterminate these little buggers?
I live on a farm in SE South Dakota on a 3 acre lot surrounded by another couple of acres of trees and then corn and bean fields.
We have several dogs (just have on left out of a litter of 12) plus the three permanant resident dogs)among other farm animals.....
Trees, tall grass, animals, fields, lots of wind...
Can a person spray something like we spray for pests in the field?
Or maybe....hanging flea and tick collars all over in the grove all over the trees. wouldn't that look silly... and man - what would the neighbors say???
-------------------- Those who say it can't be done, should get out of the way of those who are doing it! Posts: 34 | From South Dakota | Registered: Sep 2007
| IP: Logged |
CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
Yes- you can have your yard sprayed for ticks- in my experience it really works well, too-
when we moved to where I got sick the grounds were covered with ticks- the house had been abandoned and was inhabited by raccoons, skunks and rats and mice... and there were ticks EVERYWHERE, and the funny thing was, when moving in, I was SO worried about the possible LEAD in the old paint, I was worried about weird viruses in mouse droppings and getting the darn place scrubbed clean- but I never thought twice about all the ticks- seriously- just went Ugh!!!
first time we came in house, the doors were stuck open from moisture and would not budge, stuck open, (yes, a REAL fixer!! a lovely house now) and on the old couch in the living room there were literally dozens of TICKS~!~!!!!!!!!! INSIDE!!!
That is not when I got bit though, I got bit months later after we moved in and I was clearing the land-
Had never heard of Lyme disease-
ANYWAY, after I got sick we had hte grounds professionally sprayed for 3 years and didn't see a tick for years after that!!! YEARS and years!!! It really worked!!!!!!!!!
5 YEARS went by without a tick!!!!!!!!!!
Now we need to spray again!!! They are back-! Yikes-
Take care-
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
This year I put 4 bags of bug granules with Sevin in it on the lawn. I didn't see one tick (have a large yard) and the mosquito population was almost nothing!
I don't have the option of a professional coming out where I live, but I would do it if I could!
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Prevention is the Key for Tick Borne Disease
Lucy Barnes
The prevention tips below may help lower your risks from exposure to ticks and help prevent you and your family from becoming ill from tick borne diseases.
1. Wear light colored clothing so ticks can be spotted easier and sooner. Consider tucking your pant legs into your socks but be aware this may give ticks a direct and undetected bee-line straight to your head if your clothes aren't treated properly with Permanone. Tie up long hair and/or wear a hat that has been treated with tick repellent.
2. Do tick checks often while outdoors and as soon as you return home. Do a thorough tick check after your shower and again a few hours later. Check your children daily and teach them to make a `tick check' a regular habit, like brushing their teeth. Be sure to also check your pets daily for ticks.
3. Try using a rough surfaced scrubby or wash cloth in the shower to dislodge any ticks that might not have attached themselves completely.
4. Shampoo that is designed to kill lice on humans may be used on occasion to kill ticks after a heavy exposure (example- after walking through nests of larval ticks). Read all label directions before using lice shampoo products on your hair.
5. For most people, the occasional use of insect repellents isn't always enough to prevent tick exposure. A clothing treatment, Permanone, kills ticks and can be used by those who frequent the great outdoors. Permanone can be purchased in a spray can for approximately $6.00 at your local sporting goods store. Once treated, clothing may be washed and worn again for up to two weeks. It is highly recommended for treating shoes, boots, backpacks, and all outdoor wear. It has no scent so it can be used by hunters and those sensitive to perfume smells. Ticks, chiggers, and other insects that are trying to crawl across properly treated clothing will die, not simply be turned away or ``repelled''. Be advised, it can only be applied to clothing, NOT to your skin. Permanone can also be sprayed on screens, some furniture, and around buildings foundations for additional protection. Be sure to follow all safety precautions on the label and keep it out of the reach of children. You may keep clothing that has been treated with Permanone in plastic bags with a dated tag for easy access and maximum protection.
6. Don't use fragrances that attract bugs, such as perfumed soaps, lotions, and creams. Natural insect repellents like citronella, garlic, rose, and geranium oil can be applied to exposed skin for added protection.
7. Keep a bristle brush outside to brush off clothing when returning home. Place all clothing directly in a clothes dryer and run it for 40 minutes to try and kill ticks.
8. Anything you can do to make your property less hospitable to deer, mice, and birds will have a impact on the tick population. If you have a large yard or wooded area, consider creating a ``safe zone'' for you and your family. You may not be able to prevent all ticks from entering the safe area but you can certainly reduce the numbers. Deer fencing can be used to help provide the ``safe zones'' in your yard if desired.
9. Keep all grass cut SHORT so any ticks that try to hide there will be exposed to more sunshine and hotter, drier conditions. Ticks tend to crawl up tall blades of grass so they are better able to latch on the innocent passerby.
10. Discourage deer and other wildlife from feeding in your yard by spraying 'edibles' with a garlic or hot pepper spray.
11. Keep playground equipment and play areas in sunny locations in your yard. Do not use wood chips in play areas because it provides ideal living quarters for ticks.
12. Keep bird feeders away from the house to discourage mice (a favorite host of ticks) from gathering or nesting near or in your home. Set traps to remove mice from the home.
13. To treat your yard or other outdoor areas, a product called SEVIN (sold as a concentrated liquid or dust) can be applied. Sevin seems to have the least offensive chemical odor and is recommended for killing ticks. It can be applied to your dogs bedding area to help kill ticks that may gather there. Carefully follow the directions on the label. Sevin is usually less expensive than some of the other products on the market.
14. Acorns and berries attract white-footed mice and other wildlife. Removing them from your safe zone might lessen the chance of additional tick exposure.
15. Depending on your property layout, you can create a barrier around the edges of the open grass where the wooded areas meet your safe zone. Place a layer of wood chips 3 feet wide and 1-3 feet deep between your grass yard and the woods edge. Ticks are attracted to the wood chips because of the shade and moisture it provides. Treat the chips regularly with Sevin or Permanone to kill the ticks living in or trying to cross the barrier. Be sure to keep pets and children out of the treated wood chip area.
16. Save the cardboard inserts from toilet paper and paper towel rolls. Treat cotton balls with Permanone and place the cotton balls loosely inside the cardboard holders. Place the containers along the borders of your property. Hopefully any mice nearby will carry the treated cotton balls to their nest, exposing ticks to the treatment.
17. Consider making your pets either inside pets only, or outside pets only. Studies show pet owners are more at risk for tick bites and contracting infectious tick borne diseases. Remember, even if you don't roam in unsafe areas, your pets do. They can carry ticks back into your house, exposing everyone inside. Ticks can live for over 6 months without a blood meal and an adult female can produce 2-5 thousand off spring. Some homes have been treated for tick infestation after female ticks laid eggs indoors, the eggs hatched, and the tiny ticks took up residence. Be sure to remove ticks from your clothing before getting into your vehicle. This will prevent ticks from calling your car their home.
18. A special note to hunters- Check yourselves, your clothing, and your dogs before going home after a days hunt. If you are lucky enough to bag a deer or other wildlife, wrap the animal in a treated sheet as soon as possible, or properly hang the deer over an old sheet that has been liberally treated with Permanone. As the deer cools, ticks will drop off. As ticks land on the treated material and try to escape, they will die instead of taking up residence in your yard. This will help to prevent exposure to your family, your pets, and other families in the neighborhood. Deer meat or meat from other wild animals should be cooked thoroughly before eating. When butchering or handling raw meat, disposable gloves should be worn.
19. Pets should be checked daily for ticks. Consider treating your pets with one of several products designed to kill fleas and ticks. Contact your veterinarian for more specific advise on the proper flea and tick control for your pet.
20. Consider removing shrubbery and flowers from the base of your house or treat those areas with Sevin to prevent ticks from being in close contact with your home. Removing shrubs will also discourage animals from nesting or bedding there.
21. If you suspect you may have a tick borne illness, or are bitten by a tick, or have the classic bulls eye rash (which is present in only a small number of those infected), seek advise from a doctor who is a member of ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases (see information below). If you or your children get flu like symptoms, joint pain, fatigue, depression, or any illness that does not resolve or returns after treatment is stopped, consider Lyme disease and other tick borne infections as the possible cause.
22. If you suspect you have Lyme disease or any other tick borne diseases consider the possibility this could cause problems for your friends or family members. Spirochetes that cause Lyme disease have been found in breast milk, the uterus, semen, urine, blood, the cervix, tears, brain tissue, and other body fluids and tissues, so do take all necessary precautions to protect the ones you love.
23. If you are bitten by a tick, prompt and proper removal is essential to prevent the ticks fluids from being forced into your body. To remove the tick, place tweezers as close to the skin as possible and steadily pull the tick out from the same direction it entered. Clean the site with rubbing alcohol and cover it with antibiotic ointment to help prevent secondary infections.
posted
breaking up the long paragraphs for easier reading for us neuro lymies and bolding important things not to overlook! bettyg
quoting lucy barnes above ....
5. For most people, the occasional use of insect repellents isn't always enough to prevent tick exposure. A clothing treatment, Permanone, kills ticks and can be used by those who frequent the great outdoors. Permanone can be purchased in a spray can for approximately $6 at your local sporting goods store.
Once treated, clothing may be washed and worn again for up to two weeks. It is highly recommended for treating shoes, boots, backpacks, and all outdoor wear. It has no scent so it can be used by hunters and those sensitive to perfume smells.
Ticks, chiggers, and other insects that are trying to crawl across properly treated clothing will die, not simply be turned away or ``repelled''.
Be advised, it can only be applied to clothing, NOT to your skin .
Permanone can also be sprayed on screens, some furniture, and around buildings foundations for additional protection. Be sure to follow all safety precautions on the label and keep it out of the reach of children.
You may keep clothing that has been treated with Permanone in plastic bags with a dated tag for easy access and maximum protection .
18. A special note to hunters- Check yourselves, your clothing, and your dogs before going home after a days hunt.
If you are lucky enough to bag a deer or other wildlife, wrap the animal in a treated sheet as soon as possible, or properly hang the deer over an old sheet that has been liberally treated with Permanone. As the deer cools, ticks will drop off. As ticks land on the treated material and try to escape, they will die instead of taking up residence in your yard.
This will help to prevent exposure to your family, your pets, and other families in the neighborhood.
Deer meat or meat from other wild animals should be cooked thoroughly before eating. When butchering or handling raw meat, disposable gloves should be worn.
22. If you suspect you have Lyme disease or any other tick borne diseases consider the possibility this could cause problems for your friends or family members.
Spirochetes that cause Lyme disease have been found in breast milk, the uterus, semen, urine, blood, the cervix, tears, brain tissue, and other body fluids and tissues, so do take all necessary precautions to protect the ones you love .
wonderful advise from lucy for us all to give to others as well!
IP: Logged |
just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129
posted
Hi Pam S,
I live just a hop skip and a jump south of YOU. I "KNOW" what your dealing with!! I LIKE your area of the world.
My advice is to see the "Hefty" boys out of Baltic SD(there on TV every week) 10:30 am Sunday mornings on Channel 9 out of Soiux City.
There advice is a backpack sprayer(any kind will do). personally I like the 25 gallon spot sprayer in some sort of carry device. Skidloader, pickup, wheelbarrow, coaster wagon, dont matter what.
THEIR best advice on such spray for those things and all other creepy crawlers is "Tempo". can be had at any farm supply joint!!
Can be used inside and outside the house and yard. It is labeled for restuarts so extremely SAFE. My understanding is it is made from Geranium(sp) flowers,,,pretty benign.
With that said, geraniums in the yard cant be BAD. Tempo smells like you are spraying water,,,NO smell I can detect!!(People friendly therefore)
Tincups tips are right on!! me thinks pets running in and out of ANY house is ticks waiting to happen!! I would tend to spray more often in THAT case,at least. I advocate of indoor,outdoor ONLY pets also!!
This CANT be bad for the humans of the family!!! keep the mice OUT of the house also at all costs!! traps and crack sealing,prevention, works wonders!!
Your area, IF close to the Missouri river must be thick with these ticks,,,our bordering counties have tons of them and sick people too!! considered a 'hot bed' of disease by current newspaper articles!!
Let me know IF I can assist you in further ways or ideas!! You can always PM me,,if you wanna visit or ask stuff!! been busy of late so tardy responder!! still--just don--
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks for all the great info - I will be sure to use some of these suggestions in my pretty bird filled yard and mouse/rat infested barns and graineries/bins.
Hefty - Smefty - boycotted them after a bad experience - BUT - did buy some tempo last week to spray for the darn Japaneses lady beetles - since we got a killing frost and they dont have anymore aphids to feed on in the bean fields.
I didnt know that tempo would kill ticks as well. this is good information to know - (You guys are so smart on here. I couldnt do it without you. THX)
It is really hard to educated kids on staying out of grove playing in the trees, or out of landscaping that I have wood chips in it (I never thought about that when I was landscaping)
Just Don - I live near the Big Sioux River on the east side of the state and love to go fishing and hiking with the kids but now I am wondering if I should just hunker down in the house and never go out again -
Lots of our towns have the river running right thru them and that seems to be where all the parks and trials are - I wonder what cities do to protect again infestations of these little critters? Maybe I need to talk to the city board members about our trail system.
Too bad ticks can't be on the EXTINCT List? Wouldnt that be nice?
-------------------- Those who say it can't be done, should get out of the way of those who are doing it! Posts: 34 | From South Dakota | Registered: Sep 2007
| IP: Logged |
treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Agway sells a permethrin based insecticide granules $9.00 a container the only draw back is it kills pretty much every insect that comes in contact with. Lasts two weeks or so.They market it for ants
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
I can second using Tempo. Thanks to Just Don, I was able to eradicate an ongoing, highly frustrating case of fleas in my screened porch room that abuts my deck, where I had racoons/possums/skunks, coming all the time to "hide out" under the deck, bringin their fleas with them, which started to massively populate my screened porch room, and EAT ME!
I had this problem for about 4-5 summers now, every time I'd go out and clean up the room to get ready for summer use, I'd look at my ankles/feet and see about 50 million (or close to it) fleas jumping on me.
I hated this, because I LOVE my screened porch room (I don't venture far beyond it, since we live in tick country) and felt that this was my last bastion of backyard living.
So I came on the board, hoping for an answer, and Just Don recommended Tempo. Here in Californi-yay, just about every good pesticide is banned.(including Tempo!) No Dursban, no nothin'! Dursban was my all around pesticide when I had dogs back in the 80's-90's and fleas, it worked like nothing else, but it's been gone for years.
I found Tempo online, and they actually shipped to CA, can't figure out how they did that (the company I bought from). Just Don warned against using online/internet for buying this, but I did it anyway, and I can tell you, it's been at least 2 months since I sprayed (yes, I did it myself) and I have not had a flea since then. I also put chicken wire around the perimeter of my deck, so no more wild animals bringing their fleas in, but by then, my porch room was infested, so I had lots of adult and baby fleas to kill.
So, here's my testimony for Tempo---WORKS VERY WELL! I think if it kills fleas, it kills ticks. And, the bottle does list ticks as one of the pests it kills.
Now, next spring, when I go to open up the porch room again, I'll see if my chicken wire fix worked, and if I have fleas in there anyway, I doubt that I will. You should have seen the tongue lashing I got from some angry critters that felt I'd taken their home away! Priceless! Mr. Racoon was especially po'd-he now goes into my husbands workshop garage to eat the cat food at night! That'll teach me, eh?
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129
posted
Just Julie,
Yopu MAY want to consider relocating that rascal coon to better pastures. It has already proved it is harboring parasites than arent good for humans.
THey also harbor other stuff that is REAL bad for kids. Do you have small kids or grandkids?? Have heard of children dieing for the bad deal of parents took them to a park,,,and they got ahold of racoon droppings
Reloacting them is a breze IF you use a live trap. If you get a kitty instead you let them out,,,IF they get caught again when they arent suppose to be in there,,,leave them there for half a day or more,,,then they wont crawl back in!!
Put a bit of dog or cat food in there and be prepared to be surprised how MANY critters can be caught that way,,,,lots of possoums HERE, same problem with THOSE.
Also woodchucks and other strange stuff dont know what they were. Put thje trap in a pickup and drive 6-8-10 miles (at least) away and let them go.
Glad the Tempo worked out so well for YOU!!! Dont have a clue how long it lasts!! being--just don--
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
Hey Don!
I can report that with the underside of my deck (adjacent to my screen porch room) closed off with chicken wire, I do not have the raccoon, skunks or possums traveling about on that side of my backyard. the immediate backyard area that we use is closed off with chain link fencing (ugly, but useful, done by the previous family) and keeps most critters out from wandering in the part of the yard that we inhabit. That said, I do keep the one side of the yard that has a chain link fence gate, open enough to let my 2 aging outside only cats come and go from the "wild side" to our backyard area. The wild critters do come thru that gate (they fit) and eat the cat food that my kitties leave behind. I've tried picking up the leftover food after they're done eating, but I do not have the discipline to do this every day. . .
So, I still have possums coming to eat at the cat buffet---so I am wondering what you meant when you alluded to the possums being dangerous?
I have caught them in the corner of my garage when I come to take up the cat food, and they are still in there, and I can get quite close to them, I do this because I find it amazing that I can get that close to a wild animal! I do not cause the possum(s) to panic, I just walk up to them as they're cowering, and talk softly to them, I get a nice education and I do love animals. I consider it a privledge to be able to view wild life like this.
Anyway, the Tempo has wiped out my flea population from the porch room, and kept them gone for at least 2 months. Whether this is due to my deck being closed off and the wild animals from hanging out there and depositing their fleas is something I'll only know next year, as the deck will remain unavailable to them to sleep under, and my porch will not have anything different done to it.
Love these wildlife experiments! I am living in their home, after all.
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
![[kiss]](graemlins/kissing.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic