Are you hoping to enjoy the great outdoors and need to learn how to help prevent mosquito bites or tick bites? Find out how Terminix can help treat your yard.

 

Itchy bites and illness may occur after exposure to some arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks. The bites can cause discomfort and, in some cases, transmit pathogens (bacteria, viruses and protozoans) that can cause a variety of diseases. Some examples of diseases that are of concern in the United States include: (mosquito) chikungunya, dengue, La Crosse encephalitis, West Nile fever, Zika; (tick) Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. 

The good news? There are many precautions you can take to help avoid bites from mosquitoes and ticks.

 

How to Help Prevent Mosquito Bites and Tick Bites

If you spend a lot of time enjoying the great outdoors, you’ve probably looked for tips on how to prevent mosquito bites. The best way to do this is to try to avoid sites where mosquitoes lay their eggs, such as standing water in woodland pools, ditches, ponds not containing fish or other predators and artificial containers (such as tires, buckets, tarps and plant pot receptacles). If any of those water issues are on your property and can be remedied, they should. Likewise, mosquito resting sites (high grass, wooded areas) should also be avoided or remedied, when possible. Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide that we exhale, dark colors, heat and movement.

How to Help Prevent Tick Bite

It’s possible to help prevent tick bites by avoiding typical tick resting areas (such as high grass and wooded areas), as well as performing regular tick checks when you’ve been outdoors. If a tick is found attached to you, the tick should be safely removed and saved in alcohol or in a bag in the freezer for future species identification and/or testing (handled through a hospital or physician’s office), should you become ill. 


You should wear light-colored clothing and socks to make it easier to find ticks. Taking a shower soon after you have been outdoors can also wash away unattached ticks and allow you to better check your body for ticks. Learning how to avoid tick bites by following these procedures every time you go outside can help reduce the chance that a pathogen will be transmitted.

Tick and Mosquito Control

Mosquito egg-laying sites such as artificial containers holding water can be removed completely or dumped once a week. Standing water in areas such as ditches can be treated using larvicides. Private or municipal pest control agencies may be contracted to conduct surveillance and, if needed, treat targeted areas before and during the summer. Barrier treatments of areas where pests rest, such as shrubbery, are effective in reducing pest abundance. 

Only products labeled for such use should be used, and label directions must be strictly followed or administered by a pest control specialist. 


Repellents (with EPA-registered ingredients such as DEET or picaridin) can be applied to exposed skin and clothing. The label directions should be followed when applying any repellent. 
Commercially available insecticide/repellent-treated clothing (socks, shirts, shorts, hats and other items) can also be worn to prevent exposure to mosquitoes and ticks. This type of clothing can be purchased from many large retail shops. Stores may also provide treated mosquito nets (if you are sleeping in a cabin without window screens) or tents. 

For help treating your yard for both ticks and mosquitoes, contact Terminix®. Our trained specialists can inspect your yard for free and create a customized treatment plan. Contact Terminix today to schedule an appointment.

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