Dryers for North Reading Tick Control?

Posted by Mosquito Squad
Dryers for North Reading Tick Control?

December 20, 2023

Let’s revisit a great story from Massachusetts. Back in 2013, an area teen took tick science to task, and the CDC took notice!

Massachusetts high school student, Jacqueline Flynn, decided to research killing ticks in the clothes dryer for her science fair experiment. This clever 16-year-old challenged the CDC’s recommend drying time for tick-laden clothing. In 2013, the CDC suggested using a high-heat drying time for one hour to kill ticks. Jacqueline repetitively put small mesh bags of deer ticks in the dryer to study how long it would take them to expire. Her findings were quite different from the CDC’s recommendations, noting that tick elimination occurred in as little as five minutes on low heat. The CDC took the teen’s experiment into consideration and today offers new recommended drying times for tick elimination – 10 minutes on high heat.

Putting ticks in the dryer is one form of North Reading tick control.

We know this story might sound odd, but if you are a hiker, gardener, or even a beachgoer you should know that your dryer is an important part of protecting your family from the threat of a Lyme-infected tick bite. Imagine you spend a few hours on the trails or working in the garden. You are close to vegetation and tick habitats by sheer virtue of the activity you are partaking in. It is not unreasonable to think that you could end up with a tick or two on your clothing. Imagine if you carried these ticks inside, and simply threw your clothing into the hamper or onto the floor. If allowed to survive, the tick or ticks could find themselves…well, attached to you. Or perhaps attached to one of your kids or a pet. The dryer is a simple solution to ensuring that if you do have a tick on your clothing, it will not survive to feed on your family later!

Why should you be concerned about carrying a live tick indoors?

Though ticks thrive in outdoor humidity, they can survive in a climate-controlled environment for a few days. That is more than enough time to attach to a family member or a pet. If it’s a deer tick, this could mean Lyme transmission to one of your family members, if not yourself. The deer tick is very prevalent in Central Massachusetts and is one of the ticks responsible for the transmission of Lyme disease. And if you think looking at your clothing is enough to find a tick, think again. Nymph ticks are about the size of a sesame seed.

The time for tick control in North Reading is now – and all year long!

Early springtime is the time to call on Mosquito Squad of North Shore to begin your warm weather North Reading tick control regimen. We have two tick treatment measures that will help reduce the number of ticks on your property throughout the year. In warm months, our barrier treatment controls ticks that are in the latter nymph stage along with adult ticks. It starts working immediately and will continue working for about 21 days before re-application is required. After spring, summer, and early fall, our tick tubes can be deployed to help control tick populations by targeting ticks that are in earlier stages of life. Treated cotton from inside these tubes will be carried back to the nests of ground rodents, where ticks also live. The cotton does not harm rodents but is lethal to ticks. Using the barrier treatment in conjunction with tick tubes is the best way to help protect your family and pets from tick bites.

Are you ready to begin your North Reading tick control regimen with Mosquito Squad of North Shore? Our highly-trained tick treatment technicians are ready to help! Call us today at (978) 597-7168.