F.A.Q.

Mosquitoes need standing water to breed and shaded areas to rest. Remove water sources, thin overgrown vegetation, and consider scheduling a professional treatment before the population has a chance to build. 

Yards with standing water, dense vegetation, poor drainage, and heavy shade tend to have a lot more mosquitoes than open, well-maintained properties.

Not in any meaningful way. Bug zappers attract insects using UV light, but mosquitoes aren't strongly drawn to it.

The most effective approach is a professional barrier treatment applied 24–48 hours before your event. Beyond that, reducing standing water, choosing the right time of day, and using fans can all help keep mosquitoes and other pests from overwhelming your guests. 

Yes, dogs and cats are among the most common ways ticks get inside a home. Pets rub up against brush or grass, and the ticks latch on. They can then shed them indoors where they can latch onto a person.

Dunes give ticks everything they need, including humidity and shelter. Being close to the edges between grassland and woodland also puts them right where host animals travel, so ticks are carried all over the area.

In Northwest Indiana you're most likely to run into three species: the blacklegged tick (also called the deer tick), the American dog tick, and the lone star tick. Each looks a little different, prefers a slightly different habitat, and carries its own set of risks. 

In Northwest Indiana, peak tick season comes twice. The first is in late spring to early summer, when tiny nymphal ticks are out in full force. The second comes in the fall as the adult ticks become active.

Homes in and around the dunes do tend to deal with more ticks. Dune grass and brush, as well as the abundant wildlife, give ticks everything they need for a comfortable habitat. With more ticks comes a higher risk of tickborne disease.

Dunes have a lot of vegetation that ticks like, such as dune grass and brush. Ticks need the humidity and cover provided by this vegetation, as well as easy access to the hosts (human and non-human) that pass through.

You don't need to venture into deep woods to pick up a tick. Grassy fields, meadows, and especially their brushy edges are tick habitat too, so walking through tall grass can absolutely expose you to the blacklegged ticks that carry Lyme disease. 

Ticks hide in the shaded, humid parts of a yard: leaf litter, tall grass, ground cover, and the edges where your lawn meets the woods or brush. You can check for them with a simple "tick drag" where you pull a light-colored cloth over these areas and inspect it for ticks that grab on.