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Fight the Bite in Your Backyard

Mosquito and Tick Awareness Tips to Stay Safe Outdoors

With the return of warm weather, we are all heading back outside to enjoy the great outdoors with increasing frequency.  BBQs and picnics, backyard games, play sets, gardening, hikes, walking the dog… depending upon your activity and how you may have “mosquito and tick-proofed” your yard and behavior, these may all be occasions for encountering two of the most annoying (and dangerous) backyard pests, mosquitoes and ticks, and exposing yourself to irritation at the very least and possible illness.

Not all ticks and mosquitoes carry disease-causing agents, but there are a few in the Northeast that can be harmful: 

Several mosquito species in the Northeast can transmit:

  • West Nile virus
  • Eastern equine encephalitis virus
  • LaCrosse encephalitis virus
  • Jamestown Canyon virus

Blacklegged (aka deer) ticks:

  • Lyme disease
  • Anaplasmosis
  • Babesiosis
  • Ehrlichiosis
  • Powassan virus disease

Lone star ticks:

  • Ehrlichiosis
  • Tularemia
  • Heartland virus

American dog ticks:

  • Tularemia
  • Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Brown dog ticks:

  • Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Mosquito and Tick Activity

Ticks in the Northeast can be active year-round and any time of day. They are most active during the warmer months of the year and can be as small as poppy seeds during the spring and summer.

FYI, you can still be bitten by a tick in the winter! If the temperature is warm enough and the snow has started to melt, ticks can be active. 

Mosquitoes are most active during the warmer months of the year, usually from the beginning of April through October.  In the Northeast, some types of mosquitoes can bite during the day and others at dusk and nighttime, which means you can be bitten any time of day when outside.

Where Do Ticks and Mosquitoes Live?

Ticks tend to live in heavily wooded areas, but also in shrubbery, weeds, grass, and piles of leaves. You can be bitten by a tick in any of these areas, walking along the edges of roads or hiking trails, and even in your own backyard. Be sure to always check yourself thoroughly for ticks after spending time in these areas!

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water. You can find them in roadside ditches, woodland pools, and containers like flowerpots, bird baths, and old tires.  In addition to natural habitats, mosquitoes can be found around your home and neighborhood.  Dump out standing water weekly to keep mosquitoes away from your home!

More on Mosquitoes

The duration of the mosquito season can be surprisingly long and is dependent upon the amount of precipitation and seasonal temperatures. It can begin as early as March and last up through the end of October. There are numerous natural mosquito habitats in our area as well as backyard hotspots where mosquitos will breed. Please educate yourself, spread the message and take steps to control mosquitoes in your backyard and reduce the threat of mosquito-borne diseases.

“Over 200 types of mosquitoes live in the continental United States and US territories; of these 200, about 12 types spread germs that can make people sick. Other mosquitoes bother people and are considered nuisance mosquitoes. In general, nuisance mosquitoes do not spread germs. Because you can’t tell which mosquito could be spreading germs when it bites, it is important to protect yourself from mosquito bites.”[1]

Mosquito Proof Your Yard

Remove standing water where mosquitoes could lay eggs: 

  • Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out any items that hold water like tires, buckets, planters, toys, pools, birdbaths, flowerpot saucers, or trash containers. Mosquitoes lay eggs near water.
  • Tightly cover water storage containers (buckets, cisterns, rain barrels) so that mosquitoes cannot get inside to lay eggs.
  • For containers without lids, use wire mesh with holes smaller than an adult mosquito.
  • Use larvicides to treat large containers of water that will not be used for drinking and cannot be covered or dumped out.
  • If you have a septic tank, repair cracks or gaps. Cover open vent or plumbing pipes. Use wire mesh with holes smaller than an adult mosquito.
  • Clear weeds and underbrush and trim shrubs.
  • Mow your lawn as often as necessary to keep the grass from growing too tall.
  • Encourage your neighbors to also eliminate sources on their own property.

Use natural controls

  • Use natural controls such as herbs and scented oils around your backyard and grow insect -repellent plants. These naturally repel mosquitoes. Citronella, lemongrass, and chrysanthemum are nontoxic and keep mosquitoes at bay.  Lemon balm, mint, chrysanthemums, marigolds, basil, garlic, eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary also repel mosquitoes, but quite pleasant to look at and smell.

Keep mosquitoes out:

  • Install or repair and use window and door screens. Do not leave doors propped open.
  • Use air conditioning when possible.

Mosquito Proof Yourself

Did you know that bare skin and dark clothing attract mosquitoes?  

  • Wear long sleeves, long pants, and light-colored, loose-fitting
  • Properly apply an EPA-registered repellent such as DEET, picaridin, IR 3535 or oil of lemon-eucalyptus.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol outdoors. According to a 2002 study in the Journal of American Mosquito Control, just drinking a single beer was enough to make a body a whole lot more attractive to roving mosquitoes.
  • Time your work outs to avoid the early and the late hours of the day when mosquitoes are most active. Avoiding their busiest times is no guarantee of avoiding the bite though. Lactic acid, body odor, and chemicals found in human sweat all attract skeeters.
  • Did you know that if you are the Universal Donor (O+), mosquitoes apparently feel that they are included in the list of recipients?

Protect Your Pets and Wildlife

The American Mosquito Control Association stresses mosquito-borne diseases do not only affect humans – they also kill countless birds, reptiles, dogs, horses, and endangered species each year. Awareness of these diseases – including canine heartworm, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and Western Equine Encephalitis – is another important component of mosquito control the general public must embrace.

More on Ticks

Tick Behavior

Ticks begin life really tiny, about the size of a poppy seed. This is when they are in the nymph stage of their life cycle. To continue to the adult stage, they must feed on blood.

Ticks live in long grass and brushy areas like in the woods and latch on to humans and other animals as they walk by.

engorged tickOnce a tick finds a host (human or animal) to feed on, the tick punctures the skin. This causes blood to pool and the tick can suck it up. You can see the tick’s gut in the highlighted colors in the picture on the right. This is where the blood is filtered, and excess water is returned to the host—this is also when germs are spread from the tick to the host its feeding on. Germs like bacteria or viruses cause disease.

An attached tick feeding on the host’s blood gradually becomes engorged. Adult ticks will generally remain attached for about 7-10 days if not removed.

Most diseases, including Lyme disease, can be spread 36-48 hours after being bitten by an infected tick. This is why it’s important to perform tick checks regularly, especially after being outdoors.

Preventing Tick Bites

Try to avoid high grass, brushy, or wooded areas where you might expect ticks. Walk in the center of trails.  Wear light-colored long pants and sleeves (so ticks are more visible) and tuck pants into socks.

Perform a tick check and shower as soon as you get inside.  Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tickborne diseases. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.

Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, including your own backyard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:

  • Under the arms
  • In and around the ears
  • Inside belly button
  • Back of the knees
  • In and around the hair
  • Between the legs
  • Around the waist

Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed.  If your clothes require washing, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks.  Dry clothes on high heat for at least 10 minutes.  Don’t forget to check your gear.  Carefully examine coats, and daypacks…

Check your pet every time they come in from the outdoors.  While your veterinarian can provide pills and chews, collars, sprays, and more, they will not necessarily prevent a tick from hitching a ride on Fido and eventually landing on you.

If you find yourself continuously in tick habitat, you might consider treating clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Alternatively, you can buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear.

Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful search tool can help you find the product that best suits your needs. Always follow product instructions. Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children under 3 years old.

What To Do If You Find an Attached Tick

  • You may want to find a trusted adult to help you remove the tick.
  • It’s important that you don’t touch or play with the tick with your fingers. Doing so can squish the tick and force its blood and germs into your skin. Your goal is to remove the whole tick (including its head) and avoid squishing the blood and germs into your skin.
  • Use fine-tipped tweezers to grip the tick as close to the skin as possible.
  • Pull straight upwards firmly.
  • Get rid of the live tick by putting it in rubbing alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag or container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.
  • Wash the bite area with warm water and soap.
  • For the next few weeks, pay close attention to any symptoms of tick-borne diseases that may show up. What are some of the early symptoms again? Skin rash, fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, dizziness. If these do appear, contact your physician.

We urge all residents to take a proactive approach to reducing habitat for ticks and mosquitoes in your backyard and guarding against bites and diseases during the summer season and throughout the year.

Additional Resources

 

[1]  https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/about/mosquitoes-in-the-us.html