Use repellent and cover up in tick habitat, check everyone (and pets) after time outdoors, keep pets on a vet-recommended preventive, and reduce ticks in the yard itself.
If you want to keep ticks off your family, a few good habits can help. It also helps to know exactly what you’re dealing with in Colorado.
The Front Range and its foothills are home to ticks like the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog tick. They’re active mainly in the spring and early summer. They both tend to favor brushy areas and tall grass, as well as shrubby foothill terrain. They can make you sick, but not the same way they will out East. Here, the worries are Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia. Lyme disease is rare here.
For personal protection, use an EPA-registered repellent on exposed skin, and consider permethrin-treated clothing for hikes into brushy country. It also helps to wear light colors since it makes ticks easier to spot. Tucking pants into socks also helps. After any outing, check the whole family, including the scalp, behind the ears, the waistband, and behind the knees. Check pets too and keep them on tick preventatives recommended by your vet.
At home, you can also make your yard less hospitable to ticks. This can be done by keeping grass short and clearing leaf litter and brush. If you have a bad tick problem, you can always create a dry barrier of mulch or crushed stone between your lawn and the wild.
If you're tired of worrying about ticks every time the family heads outdoors, Mosquito Squad of East Denver can help. Mosquito Squad treats the brushy, shaded zones where Colorado's ticks gather. This can help you protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
