Ticks are obligate parasites. This means that they need to feed on the blood of hosts in order to survive. Unfortunately, although the bites themselves do not hurt, they can expose you to serious diseases. Because nature intended ticks to feed on the blood of humans and other host animals, they are equipped with special abilities that help them find their next meal. Knowing what can attract ticks may help you avoid them. Tick pest control can keep them off your property, reducing the likelihood that you or other members of your household will get bitten.

1. Backyard Debris

Woodpiles, dead leaves, and long vegetation, e.g., unmown grass, are all things that can attract ticks to your property. For one thing, these materials provide cover in which ticks can hide. This is important because they are very small and move very slowly, making them easy prey for larger animals that feed on them.

Ticks don’t necessarily go out looking for new hosts. Instead, they find them using a technique called questing. A tick climbs up onto an object close to the ground, such as a fallen log or a low plant. While its back legs grip the object, it extends its front legs. When a potential host brushes by the object the tick is sitting on, it grabs hold with its legs and climbs up until it finds a suitable area of flesh to bite. Clearing debris from your yard and keeping grass mown and shrubs pruned helps to prevent ticks in your yard.

2. Sweat and Carbon Dioxide

Unfortunately, ticks can be attracted to the byproducts of basic life functions that you couldn’t stop even if you wanted to. Ticks are attracted to warm-blooded creatures. They can sense the heat that radiates from your body. When it comes to temperature, the bodies of humans and other warm-blooded animals are self-regulating. Your body produces sweat to keep you cool. The sweat contains lactic acid that ticks can detect, which draws them to you. Even the air that you breathe can attract ticks as they can detect high concentrations of carbon dioxide produced when you exhale. Because there is not much that you can do about the natural tick attractants your body produces, you have to find other ways to avoid them, such as pest removal in Georgetown to keep them off your property.

3. Blood Type

Another biological factor that you cannot do anything about but that may attract ticks is your blood type. Everyone has one of four different blood types, and ticks seem to be more attracted to certain blood types than others. Type B blood seems to be their least favourite, while they seem to be most attracted to type A. Ticks seem to dislike type AB blood, though not as much as type B, and they show moderate attraction to type O.

4. Clothing

When you know you are going to be in an area infested with ticks, you may want to try dressing in dark colours because ticks are attracted to light colours. The clothing that you wear may not be the most important consideration, however. A tick cannot bite you if it cannot come in contact with your skin, so it can help to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants that cover as much skin as possible. Tucking in your clothing to the extent possible also helps prevent ticks from coming in contact with your skin.

Truly Nolen Can Assist With Tick Pest Control

Children and pets are more likely to experience tick bites and more susceptible to the diseases they can spread. Our methods of pest removal in Georgetown are effective at getting rid of the ticks without putting the most vulnerable members of your family at risk. Find out more about the services we offer and the techniques we use.