3 tips for avoiding ticks

    We all love to spend time outdoors in the summer, but there could be an unseen danger with ticks if you don’t know the right prevention techniques. Mike McGrath, host of You Bet Your Garden, spoke with Bob Oley from the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance, a national group devoted to making people aware of tick-borne diseases and prevention.

    Here are some tips they recommend to keep you and your family safe from tick bites:

    1. Mouse control

    Deer ticks often attach to field mice, so a great way to control the tick population in your environment is to use Tick Tubes. This product allows the mice to bring back cotton soaked in Permethrin spray to their nest. The cotton is harmless to the mice, but deadly to the ticks.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    2. Keep bird feeders away from your house

    Spilled bird seed attracts rodents, so if you keep your bird feeder away from your house you are less likely to attract mice that may have deer ticks attached to them.

    3. Create safe zones in your landscape

    To protect your lawn from ticks you can create a mulch or woodchip barrier between your lawn and the edge of any wooded area. The wooded areas are loaded with ticks and this barrier prevents them from crossing over into your lawn.

     

    For a longer interview on tick prevention listen to You Bet Your Garden on WHYY-FM, Saturday at 11 a.m.

     

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal