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Ticks carry a whole slew of diseases with them wherever they go and they love to find a good, warm host that they can feed off for a little while. Unfortunately, once they find that host, an infected tick will also pass on the disease or infection to their host. Dogs and other pets are prime hosts for ticks because these pets run in or very close to wooded or bushy areas, getting right into all the areas where ticks reside. Pets also spend a lot of time outdoors, especially in the warmer months when ticks are most present, and so are more likely to get ticks burrowing into them than people are. If you live in woodsy areas, or regularly visit them with your pet, it’s important to regularly check them to remove ticks from your pet as soon as possible.

Wearing latex gloves check your pet thoroughly from nose to tail looking for any signs of ticks. Make sure you use good light during this so that you don’t miss a tick hiding in the shadows or under a patch of hair. Remember that ticks can be very small, the size of the head of a pin in some cases, so you’ll have to take your time and really look. They can also be as large as a grape and range from black to brown and red to tan.

This next step is the tricky part. Using tweezers, grasp the tick firmly as close as possible to your pet’s skin as you can get. It’s extremely important that you do not get any of your pet’s skin in your grasp and that you don’t pinch your pet in any way. Then gently and slowly – very, very slowly – pull the tick straight up. You must be careful that you do not pull the tick’s head off its body. If you do, the head will remain within your pet’s body and will cause serious infection.

So once you’ve removed the tick from your pet, what do you do next? Most importantly, don’t squish it between your fingers or flush it down a toilet. Squishing it between your fingers will only give the tick another viable location to take up residency, and ticks have been known to survive toilet flushes and start living within a home. Instead, place some alcohol, bleach, or vinegar in a jar and drop the tick in. Make sure the tick is covered and this will be enough to kill the tick. Then, just make sure you keep regularly checking your pet for more ticks so that you can get rid of them before they become a serious problem!

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

When it comes to ticks, most people think of the hard-shelled insect that resides on their host, and feeds off of their blood. This is an accurate description of ticks, but it only represents one kind of tick. There’s also a softer-shelled tick that does come out to feed, but then moves back into their natural habitat, which are usually small, dark crevices. If you have a lot of ticks in our around your home, it’s important to get rid of them. Not only can they be nasty creatures, that remain attached to you should a hard-shelled tick find you make a good host, but they can also carry many different diseases, namely Lyme disease.

Preventative measures are essential if you live in area that is known for ticks. One way to do this is to use a tick insecticide and place it on cotton swabs; then place the swabs inside cotton tubes. Place them outside and field mice will find them and use them to build their nest. When a tick then feeds on a mouse, it will ingest the insecticide and kill it. However, this insecticide is not at all harmful for the mouse. In America, ticks are mostly known for being active from spring until November so this is the best time to place these cardboard tubes outside.

Another way to make sure that ticks don’t come inside your house is to keep any pets indoors when you know that there are high tick populations outside. If you can’t do that, thoroughly check your pet over when they come inside the house, and possibly also give them a tick medication. Just be sure to talk with your veterinarian about any medication you give your pet as some tick medications have been known to cause harmful reactions in some pets.

To keep ticks from choosing you as a host when you go into areas that might contain ticks, dress appropriately and also check yourself to make sure that no ticks got on you. Wear long sleeves and long pants, and tuck your pants into your socks when you’re in areas that have a very high amount of ticks. Also, make sure that you always take someone with you that you can trust, so you can thoroughly check each other over when you’re finished to make sure you’re not carrying ticks around with you.

If you ever find a tick on you, it’s essential that you leave the removal to a doctor or other medical professional. This is because ticks burrow their heads right into their host while the rest of their body remains outside the host’s body. If you just pull on the tick, the head will remain inside and could cause a severely dangerous infection. See your doctor to make sure that the tick is removed – fully and properly.

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

Ticks belong to the arachnid family, similar to scorpions and spiders.  They wait in nature for host animals to come by and then they attach themselves to a discreet, well covered area such as the scalp (under the hair).   They are blood suckers which attach themselves to a host and feed for extended periods of time.  Because of this they are also known carriers for infectious diseases. 

There are several kinds of ticks found in the U.S. but they are all fairly similar looking.  They may range in size from 1/16-1/4 inch and in color from black to a deep reddish-brown.  When they have attached to a host, they burrow slightly into the skin attaching themselves with barbed jaws which makes it impossible to simply pick them off.   If you attempt to remove a tick incorrectly the body may detach leaving the head in the skin which can cause a serious infection.

If you go into wooded areas, you want to wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts and pants; especially hats or head coverings.  You may also want to use insect repellants, but be sure to follow instructions for applying them when you do.  Try to stay away from areas that have lots of overgrowth that can brush against you as you walk.  For as long as you’re outdoors, you’ll want to periodically check yourself and your children.  Remember that ticks are very slow feeders and may not transmit any disease until they’ve been attached for several hours.  That means you have a chance to identify and remove them before they have a chance to infect you.

If you have been bitten by a tick, you’ll want to remove it by using tweezers to grasp it’s body firmly as close to your skin as possible, and pull it straight out.  You can also save it to take to the doctor if you develop any fever or start feeling ill.

For a free Los Angles pest control inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to www.accuracypluscalifornia.com