Deer ticks cannot survive in open, sun-baked beach grass, as the direct sun and salt wind quickly dry them out. But they’re not far away and can comfortably live inland among shaded scrub, thriving in bayberry, dune thickets, and maritime forest edges.
When you’re on the sandy beach, you’re probably not going to pick up any ticks. The walk back is a different story. Ticks love living in the kind of brush you find by the beach.
Blacklegged ticks, often called deer ticks, lose moisture easily. They have to stay in humid environments or they will dry out. Open dunes are hostile, but the vegetation that grows nearby is not. The secondary dune and the back-dune scrub hold bayberry, beach plum, greenbrier, poison ivy, and maritime forest edges, with leaf litter and shade underneath. If you brush up against any of this, you could easily walk away with a tick on you.
Deer are part of the problem. They consume dune vegetation and move between marsh, where ticks live comfortably, and scrubland. They’re major hosts for ticks and they shake them off in the dune vegetation as they eat from it. That’s how ticks can get onto properties right by the beach that are not next to the woods.
When you go to the beach, take trails through the dune thicket. Don’t go into the scrub or maritime forest without a good reason. At home, if ticks are a problem, you can better manage them by mowing the lawn, raking leaf litter, trimming vegetation, and putting down a dry band of wood chips and gravel between brush and your lawn if needed.
If ticks are turning up around your shore property, Mosquito Squad of the Jersey Shore can help. Mosquito Squad treats the scrub and shaded edges where ticks wait for a host. This will help you protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring cycle.
