Yea, the vet recommends keeping the dogs on the flea/tick stuff year-round. My dog is allowed to roam only close to the house (invisible fence line) not anywhere near the woods way in the back, not sure if the ticks would travel this far up. Although the deer sure do - just not sure if the ticks would survive in grassy areas/ornamental beds? I thought they were creatures of woodlands (but I'll admit I don't really know)

Ticks are here all year. They contain an antifreeze protein that keeps them alive. They come off your dog and onto you. Ticks are everywhere, anywhere a rodent goes (mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits, also birds, deer, groundhogs, etc etc) they all carry ticks. Yes, they are in your gardens and especially in grassy areas.

Some ticks (nymphs) are as big as a period on this page. Tick diseases are epidemic all around the world, not just here.

Spray your shoes and pants with permethrin and your skin with cedar oil. Garden centers carry tick repellent sprays.

I have Lyme disease. Half of people who have it test negative and don't get a rash. The bacteria are very hard to kill. Tick diseases can ruin your life as you know it, make you disabled, give you chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and dementia. Be careful. Read up on it at lymedisease.org and other lyme sites. Most doctors don't know much about it.

They are horrible. My state (PA) is #1 for lyme dz. Woopie. The doctors don't even wait until you get the bullseye rash. If you find a tick on you they just give you a dose of the antibiotic right away. My husband has chronic lymes. My son in law and nephew ended up in ICU from lymes. I will be putting out my tick tubes out shortly and hopefully will keep most of them out if the yard. Last year we had the lawn sprayed for ticks, but I don't want to do that all the time since it also kills the good bugs. I know I can't eliminate them all, just trying to control the amount of ticks.

Perennialfan, the ticks are always here and always active above 30 degrees, all year long. The only way you won't get a tick is if the ground is covered with snow.

Your dog is more protected than you are (assuming you have a dog). The ticks go from them to you.

Tick diseases (borellia, babesia, anaplasmosis, bartonella, powassen virus, etc etc) are continually misdiagnosed as alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, epstein barr, fibromyalgia, Parkinsons, ALS, chronic fatigue. Tick bacteria cause all the same symptoms and are often the actual cause of these ailments and conditions.

Insurance companies will only pay for one month of treatment for Lyme, so tick specialists write your insurance codes to go with your symptoms, like muscle pain, joint inflammation, cognitive problems, nerve injury, heart problems, vision problems. That's the only way doctors can get paid for treatment.

Times are changing as this epidemic is garnering some strong voices for more research and better tests, better insurance coverage. West Virginia just made Lyme insurance a law.

Functionthenlook, I am trying those tick tubes this year, collecting toilet paper tubes, stuffing them with cotton soaked in permethrin, putting them around the garden areas for the mice to use for nesting, thus killing the ticks on them.

I also stopped feeding the birds because too many rodents were eating the seeds on the ground. This year I have zero rodent holes and fewer squirrels and chipmunks. I miss the birds but my health is more important.

Protect yourself, not just your dog and your yard.

Susan, one bad thing I do is feed the birds. I just started this winter, since my cat is too old to catch them anymore. I was just thinking last night about the seeds attracting mice. I guess I will have to stop till cold weather again.

They say the tick tubes are 90% effective. I only started using them mid summer last year for the first time after I removed a couple ticks. After I put out the tick tubes and had the lawn sprayed I didn't have anymore ticks the remainder of the summer. Plus I spray my shoes and lower legs with deet before I garden. Heck I would be happy with 50% effective. Now if it would quit raining, I could get the tubes out.

We need a atom bomb for ticks and stink bugs. :)

Gosh, this is scary stuff - glad you guys posted, I'm finding the information educational.

Rodents come out in cold weather to eat the dropped bird seeds, even tunneling under the snow. Ticks live on them. Then you have the tick infested rodents all summer.

Dang. I like the birds. Maybe the neighbor cats can take care of the mice and grinnys.

Ok, help me out. I’ve lived in my suburban home for over forty years and have had dogs the whole time. My dogs have never had fleas or ticks. The canine crew I have now (4 shih tzus) have gotten treated for these pests for the past ten years, March through November. My neighbors have no problems with these little pests on their dogs. Is this infestation totally dependent on the environment around your home? I’m in northern Illinois.

Sherry

It is worse in some states than others. Ticks like cool, moist, shaded areas. PA , NY and probably other New England States fit that bill with our environment. Lots of cool woods, and wildlife for the ticks to live. Even in suburbia. Actually ticks are not born with lyme disease. They get it from the mice, grinnys, etc they feast on and then the ticks pass it on.

Actually, I have read that if the parent tick has the bacteria, then the nymphs have it too. They all have it, all sizes. Latest I read, one in 4 ticks is infected.

It's not just cool climates. Ticks are all over the globe. Europe has it bad. So does Australia. Lyme is reported in every state in the USA. California is having a lot of tick illness. Lots of research going on there now.

Sherrygirl, there are many reasons you are not getting tick bites. One is just good luck. (And luck always runs out). The other is maybe your scent isn't appealing to them. For example, nothing bit me when I was on chemo. My friend takes a lot of meds and she never even gets mosquito bites.

Over 300,000 new cases of Lyme this year, and that's just the reported cases. Protect yourself. This is a HORRIBLY DEBILITATING, long lasting disease! I speak from experience.

I remember as a kid we'd be jumping in piles of leaves all the time and no one got sick. It's a different world now. Very different.

Here are some websites to read and learn from: the experts are Dr. Buhner and Dr. Horowitz. They both have books.

Whatislyme.com

https://thetrek.co/lyme-disease-misconceptions-interview-stephen-harrod-buhner/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/313492824033718887/sent/?sfo=1&sender=273453146032837238&invite_code=6c49038bc04c4f2ab45f0b74fd84ca59

They need to bring back DDT. But controled better. Ticks, stink bug and bed bugs!!! Now something is in the eastern part of our state that is some new nasty bug heading our way. I don't remember the name off hand.