Ticks. Only the discussion makes my skin crawl and caput crawling. Unfortunately for me, since moving to a house in the woods, leap ways ticks, and lots of them. Which means the gamble of tick-borne illnesses such equally Lyme illness, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichia. And so what's a gal with a good for you fear of disease-carrying parasites to practise.

I'm adamant to keep my thou and trunk tick-gratis, so I'm reading upwards on how to best ward off the little beasties. Repellent-wise, the Centers for Illness Control and my entomology pals at the University of Tennessee both hold that bug repellants with DEET as a primary ingredient are the best chemic repellent for all arthropods (the problems grouping that ticks fall into). Mosquitos are arthropods as well, so y'all'll exist doubly protected.

Not downwardly with the DEET? You tin attempt a natural repellent containing rose geranium oil, simply your best bet is creating a barrier with your clothing. Before heading out into potentially tick-infested areas (high grass and heavily wooded areas), make sure you're wearing long pants and sleeves. Ticks can't wing; they clamber up from the ground or drop down from copse. So, tuck your pant legs into your socks and wear a hat to keep the footling suckers at bay. Additionally, wearing light colors makes ticks easier to spot.

Way has to take a backseat when we're dealing with ticks, guys.

Lastly, you can take measures in your chiliad to reduce the number of potential pests. Your biggest defense? Mow the backyard. Mowing the grass decreases tick "questing," which is the manner they stalk their prey…meaning you. It as well increases the temperature, meaning fewer cool clumps of tall grass to hide in, and ticks don't like the estrus.

Sometimes the drawback to living in a beautiful outdoor landscape is dealing with nature'southward smallest predators. Do you take a tick problem where you alive, or are you plagued by other pests? Nosotros'd like to know how you combat these blood-suckers.