Happy and healthy living in Tewksbury MA means providing essential tick control for your family

Ticks suck. Literally. What’s worse is that these little bugs, although small, can have a huge impact on the lives of you and your loved ones if they hitch a ride, looking for a free meal. In Tewksbury and all over Massachusetts, we’re all familiar with the dangers of Lyme disease, but there are many more tick-borne illnesses on the rise in our area, including Babesiosis and the rare, but fatal Powassan virus.

Lyme disease Tweksbury

While not all ticks are infected with and carry scary diseases, do you really want to get bitten by one and take the chance? Even Wicked Local has been publishing things about how officials are urging people to be more vigilant about ticks, but their suggestions of “using tick and mosquito repellent, wearing long sleeves and long pants outdoors, and performing periodic checks for ticks on your body” simply aren’t realistic. When the weather is nice out, who wants to be bundled up in their own yard?  Consider a time-released Tewksbury Mosquito Control treatment from a reputable Tewksbury tick control companyBarrier tick treatments help eliminate up to 90% of mosquitos and up to 90% of adult ticks and fleas on contact, too.

The Game Plan: How Tewksbury Tick Control Works

tick control Tewksbury MA
A happy Tewksbury family is one free from the threat of ticks

Lyme Disease and other tick-born illnesses caused by bacteria transmitted most often by the deer tick, but other ticks are carriers, too. Not all ticks are carriers of these illnesses, but it’s best to err on the safe side. Ticks become infected when they feed on small animals, such as mice, that are infected. By going straight to the source through the implementation of tick tubes, cycle of disease can be stopped where it would normally start. What’s a tick tube? Well, it’s a small tube with biodegradable tubing that’s filled with cotton treated with a solution fatal to ticks. The tubes are strategically placed around your property, and small animals like mice and rabbits will find the cotton and use it to build their nests. When a hungry tick bites and feeds off one of these small animals, it’s gone from this world and one fewer tick to worry about potentially causing anyone damage. These Tewksbury tick control tubes are a proactive measure, and reduce up to 90% of tick populations before they’re able to multiply.

Prefer an all-natural tick control approach for your Tewksbury MA home and family?

Tweksbury MA tick control
Protect your Tewksbury home and family from tick borne illnesses

Not a problem. A reputable Tewksbury tick control company will offer products that are EPA-registered, but some people prefer to go as “all-natural” as possible. That’s why all-natural treatments are available for your unwanted pests. Based on natural oils, this more “crunchy” approach focuses more on repelling these little buggers than eliminating them. It’s not quite as effective as traditional mosquito and tick control solutions, but it’s pretty darn close — most people notice a reduction in yard pests between 65-80%. Also time-released, this application is recommended to be repeated every two weeks, instead of the traditional three.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast

It’s simple, really.  If you want to keep your home and family safe from ticks, you must hire a reputable company, who will formulate complete protection.

Why is it so Darn Difficult to Remove a Tick?

Do you know how to remove a tick?Living in Massachusetts, Charlton residents certainly know a thing or two about deer ticks. Tick populations are at epic proportions, making us experts in finding and removing ticks whether we like it or not.

As we all know, deer ticks can’t simply be brushed off; they have to be removed with great and careful effort. Just what is it about ticks that make them hang on so tight?

See: How to remove a tick

Ticks are Built to Hang On – How can we remove a tick?

Why is it so hard to remove a tick?While it may seem just like any other insect bite, a tick bite is a multi-step process. Telescoping barbed mouth parts are why a tick is so difficult to remove. Reliant on its ability to latch on to a host for a several day’s long blood meal, ticks depend on the proper function of this barbed appendage. If they were easy to remove it would make it impossible for them to get a full meal as a change of clothes would cause them to fall. The anatomy of a tick’s mouthparts is where a great deal of the magic happens that allows them to feed successfully for days on their host. The Scientific American recently published a fantastic story explaining exactly how these very specific mouthparts function.

Charlton Ticks Bite

By studying ticks under a microscope during the process of embedding into a mouse ear, scientists have been able to learn a great deal about their successful feedings. Think about this microscopic process next time you get a tick bite:

  1. Ticks burrow into their host’s skin with “two telescoping, barbed structures called chelicerae.”
  2. Next, they spread their chelicerae apart like two arms doing the breast stroke.
  3. When they spread the chelicerae a “spikey, swordlike appendage” called the hypostome, sinks into the host.
  4. The hypostome forms a tube for the process of withdrawing blood from the host.

With anatomy made specifically for their long-term blood meal habits, a tick bite is an efficient feeding process. While the little blood they take doesn’t seem to do us so much harm, the bacteria and viruses ticks can spread during the process is something to cause concern. With Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever being spread so easily, avoiding ticks and tick bites is the best option for staying healthy.

Charlton tick control is essential.

I am committed to providing you the best most up-to-date information on the threat of tick-borne diseases in Tewksbury. Stay tuned for the latest on ticks in the area. Be sure to follow the 7 C’s of tick control to make certain your yard is not inadvertently attracting ticks.

Also read: Where do ticks live?

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast