Insecticide for Ticks
Ticks, such as the tiny deer tick or the larger dog tick, can carry illness and disease. Various products on the market can help reduce their numbers in your yard and property and may help in eliminating their numbers and protecting our pets and ourselves from their blood-sucking ways. Does this Spark an idea?
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Pyrethrins: Common Insecticide
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Pyrethrins and permethrin are a kind of insecticide that works on ticks. Pyrethrins are naturally derived from chrysanthemum flowers, while permethrin is a synthetic form of the same. When applied to lawns and outdoor property late in spring and late summer, they work to kill a variety of insects, including ticks. Often, you can buy the insecticides in cardboard tubes that contain cotton which has been treated with permethrin, so that tick-carrying mammals like mice will use the cotton for nesting and kill ticks that are feeding on them.
Other Insecticides
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Other insecticides like carbaryl, chlorpyrifos and diazinon will kill ticks, though these carry more risks and toxicity than pyrethrins.
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Repellents
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DEET is a chemical based repellent, often available in spray form in varying strengths, and is the most common repellent in use today. While repellents won't kill insects and ticks, they will keep them from staying wherever the chemical is applied. It is a very common repellent, used not only for ticks but mosquitoes as well, and has been in use for decades.
Cautions
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Use caution with any insecticide, be it natural or synthetic. Some animals (wild and domestic) are sensitive to pyrethrins and may be harmed in its use outside. Though DEET has been studied extensively and deemed safe for most people, as with any chemical applied to the body, reactions may occur. Read all instructions and follow them to the letter, regardless of the product.
Natural Methods
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Citronella, an essential oil, is another repellent that comes in a variety of forms and can repel ticks and other pests that carry disease. Some find that it is not as effective as DEET and no concrete studies have been conducted in its use. Products using citronella can vary in concentration levels but do offer a more natural alternative.
Other Advice
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Prevent ticks from attaching by wearing long sleeves and long pants when outside; for added measure, tuck pant cuffs into high boots. After spending any time outside, look for ticks crawling on your clothes or on your body, including the scalp. Light colored fabrics make it easier to spot ticks, which are dark in color.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit cousins image by asb from Fotolia.com
