Drag a light cloth through the edges of your yard and see if you find ticks. Also useful: pay attention to local wildlife and whether your pets come inside with ticks.
By the time you start seeing ticks attached to your body, you already have a problem. The better move is to find ticks before they find you.
The most direct method is the tick drag. To do this, you take a square of light-color cloth, like an old white pillowcase, and attach it to a stick or length of rope. Then pull it slowly over places ticks like to hide (grass, leaf litter, brushy edges, and so on). Ticks waiting to grab a host latch onto the cloth. Stop and check it every several feet. If you’re picking ticks up, then you’ve confirmed their presence and figured out where they are at their worst.
It’s also a good idea to pay attention to wildlife. Ticks ride in on animals, so heavy deer traffic or a noticeable population of mice or chipmunks implies the presence of ticks.
Your pets are also very good for finding ticks. If you find yourself pulling ticks off the dog after it's been in the yard, that's direct evidence the yard has them, even before anyone in the family has been bitten.
If a drag or the dog turns up ticks, focus on the places where ticks are likely to gather first. Keep the grass short and clear leaf litter. Treat brushy borders where you already know ticks are waiting for you.
If you're tired of finding out about ticks the hard way, Mosquito Squad of Metro Detroit can help. This can be done by treating the shaded, brushy edges where ticks gather and quest, helping protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
