Ticks are a common pest in Memphis. They may be small, but the diseases that they spread are anything but easy to ignore. If you want to keep ticks off of your property and protect yourself and your family and pets from their bites, Memphis pest control can help. Here's what Memphis residents need to know about the places ticks hide out, the diseases they spread, how to protect yourself from tick bites, and the best way to keep ticks away from your yard and home.

All The Places Ticks Like To Hide Out

Unlike many other biting pests, ticks cannot jump or fly. Instead, in order to get onto our bodies to feed, they do something called questing. Questing is when a tick climbs to the top of a long piece of grass or overhanging branch, they hold on with their back legs and stretch out their front legs. When a person or animal has the misfortune of brushing past these outstretched legs, ticks climb on and begin looking for a suitable place to bite. Because of this behavior, ticks prefer areas with tall grass or the edges of wooded paths. Often they are found in shaded areas with thick vegetation or around ditches or fence lines.

The Dangerous Diseases Ticks Are Known To Spread

The reason ticks are such a big concern on Memphis properties is the dangerous diseases that they spread to people and our pets. Some of these illnesses include:

Lyme diseases
Anaplasmosis
Ehrlichiosis
Babesiosis
Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)
Tularemia
Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Ticks in Memphis can cause major issues, so it is important to know how to protect yourself, your pets, and your property from ticks.

Five Simple Tips To Protect Yourself From Ticks

There are things you can do to minimize your chances of getting bitten by a tick when you are out and about in Memphis. These include:

It's all about wardrobe. What you wear outside can have a surprising impact on your tick risk level. Long pants and sleeves can protect you from ticks, and wearing light-colored clothing makes any ticks that do make it onto you easier to spot and remove.
Keep up with sprays. When spending time outdoors in areas with tick activity, it's important to wear bug spray that contains at least 20% DEET and reapply it as directed.
Watch your step. Ticks spend most of their time in overgrown areas on the edges of pathways. Stay in the center of trails and have your pets do the same.
Partner with your pet's veterinarian. Speaking of pets, make sure you work with your veterinarian to keep your pets treated for ticks year-round.
Inspections are key. Whenever you or your pet return from time outdoors, check for ticks and remove any that you find. The sooner you remove ticks, the less likely they are to transmit diseases.

Limiting your exposure to ticks is helpful in protecting yourself, but it's also a lot of work. You may also want to think about eliminating tick populations around your home.

The Best Way To Keep Ticks Away From Your Yard And Home

There are some things you can do to keep ticks away from your yard and home, such as keeping your lawn mowed, trimming shrubs and bushes, using a stone barrier between wooded areas and your lawn, and removing things like bird feeders that could attract wild animals carrying ticks.

However, the very best way to keep ticks away is to partner with a professional for pest control in Memphis. Experts from places like Mid South Pest & Termite can provide effective tick control for your yard. At Mid South Pest & Termite, our knowledgeable professionals use environmentally friendly methods to eliminate ticks and other pests and keep them from coming back. Learn more about our tick control options by calling or connecting with us online today.