How to Protect Your Family From Ticks During Fall Yard Work

Fall means pumpkin spice lattes, football, and cozy soup recipes. It also means it’s time for fall yard work. Taking care of these tasks will keep your home protected over the winter and prepare your yard for spring. Unfortunately, some of these tasks can put you and your family at risk for tick bites. If you are looking for tick control in Muskego, WI to help protect your family while completing all your important autumn outdoor chores, Mosquito Squad Plus has the team and treatment options to help!

Fall Yardwork Tasks

The most consistently needed task during the fall is most certainly raking and removing falling leaves. There is nothing more beautiful than the gold, maroon, and burnt orange colors of leaves on your trees during the autumn, but as they fall and accumulate, those leaves can leave a suffocating layer on your soil. That layer can become damp, which can cause mold and attract all kinds of bugs and pests as well. Be sure to rake and remove leaves as they fall to allow your soil to breathe and to prepare your ground for winter!

Be sure to aerate your soil and apply seed, as fall can be an ideal time for root growth. Be sure to pull weeds in your plant beds to prepare for fresh mulch in the springtime. Plant your bushes and bulbs to allow for root growth and to prepare for blooms in the spring! Fall is a great time to clean out your gutters and prepare for winter precipitation. Speaking of winter, go ahead and drain any water from your hoses and cover your spigots to prevent freezing.

Tick Control and Protection

In Muskego, deer ticks especially can be out in full force even in the autumn months. As you head outside with your family to go down that fall yardwork to-do list, it’s important everyone wears appropriate clothing. Wear long sleeves and pants with socks tucked into your socks or boots. Light colored clothing may help you spot ticks more easily.

Be sure to take a shower within two hours of outdoor activity. It’s always a good idea to do tick checks under arms, behind ears, and on the scalp. As an adult, you check yourself with a mirror, but be sure all children are checked. Any clothes worn outside should be tumble-dried in the dryer on high for at least ten minutes.

Don’t forget about the family dog! Make sure they are up to date on tick medications. You can also look for specialized collars, sprays, and shampoos to provide extra protection. It is important to check your dog too after time spent outdoors. One trick is to roll a lint roller over their fur to grab ticks before they attach.

Tick Treatments and More from Mosquito Squad Plus

Before you head outside to start completing those yard chores, be sure to give Mosquito Squad Plus of Waukesha County and Milwaukee North Shore a call! Let us treat your yard with our barrier treatment that helps minimize ticks and other outdoor pests. We also offer specialized tick treatments like tick tubes and granules as part of our Squad Yard Defender package to give you and your family peace of mind. Call us at (262) 333-0395 or contact us for a free, no-obligation quote today!