Over the last few weeks, more and more people have been stopping in the store to ask about controlling ticks. The biggest concern with ticks involves Lyme disease. As many of you know, Lyme disease, which is caused by the bite of a deer tick, can be debilitating. An increase in the number of deer in our area has meant more cases of the disease.
Many people are looking to control ticks and lessen their chances of getting Lyme disease. I've done some reading on the subject and will give you a little background and then some suggestions on how you can prevent the problem in your yard.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferei. Ticks feeding on infected animals spread the disease-causing bacteria. The young form of the tick, the larvae and the nymph, feed on smaller animals.
In our area, the field mouse is one of the animals that acts as a source of infection. Ticks feeding on mice pass on the disease to them, and then future generations of ticks pick up the disease from the mice. The young ticks are usually the ones that spread the disease to people.
Young ticks are typically hard to see and can feed on people for the 36 to 48 hours necessary to spread the infection to humans. Larger adult ticks are usually easier to spot and are most often removed before the tick has the time to feed on humans and transmit the disease. The immature stages of the ticks are active in late spring and early summer, which makes this prime season for the transmission of Lyme disease.
Let's take a look at some control measures you can use around your home. Ticks like to live in areas of tall grass and weeds. Cutting back tall weeds and grasses can reduce the places for them to live. There are many forms of insecticides that can be applied to grassy areas to kill any ticks. The insecticides come in both granular and liquid forms, and some of the liquid forms are available in hose end sprayers.
Insecticides should be applied on a regular basis through late spring to early fall. There are some organic sprays you can apply to the lawn that repel the ticks from the area. The sprays last seven to 10 days, depending on the amount of rainfall.
An interesting development in tick control is a product called Damminix. It comes in tubes filled with cotton balls that are treated with an insecticide called permethrin. The tubes are placed around your yard, allowing field mice to find the cotton balls and bring them back to their home to use as nesting materials. The oils on the fur of the mouse pick up the insecticide. As the ticks try to attach themselves to the mouse, the permethrin kills the ticks. The dosage of the insecticide will not harm the mouse. The mouse, in effect, becomes the killer of the ticks rather than the victim.
If you place the tubes around your yard, according to the package directions, in the spring and fall, you'll put a major dent in the tick population in your yard. Practically all of the field mice that live in the area around your home will end up having permethrin on their fur. The tubes come in boxes that cover one-half acre or one-eighth acre of yard.
Onto a nicer subject: Sunday is Mother's Day. As always, plants are a favorite gift for mom. However, a card and a phone call or visit will make mom just as happy, too.
Well, that's all for this week. I'll talk to you again next week.
nnn
Tim Lamprey is the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His Web site is www.Harborgardens.com. Do you have questions for Tim? Send them to ndn@mewburyportnews.com and he will answer them in upcoming columns.
