WHY ARE TICKS IN CENTRAL MASS SO PLENTIFUL IN THE FALL?

As the days shorten and the weather begins to cool you may start to see more ticks. While it seems fall may bring more ticks, you might be surprised to find out that there are not really MORE ticks. The reason you see so many ticks in the fall is because they are just bigger, easier to see adult ticks that are looking for their last blood meal so they can lay eggs. These busy ticks are working on creating the new generation of ticks that will be the nuisance next summer.

The tick life cycle

Ticks have a two year life cycle from egg to egg-laying adult. Each time they need to enter a new phase of life they must have a blood meal. Tick larva have a blood meal, usually from a small rodent, to become nymph (teenage) ticks. Nymph ticks then go out of the rodent dens and seek a bigger animal for a blood meal so that they can become adult ticks. These are the most dangerous for humans as they are so small and have already had a blood meal that could have infected them with Lyme or other tick-borne disease.

3,000 eggs at a time

Once the nymph has its blood meal it will become an adult capable of breeding or laying eggs. The adult tick cannot lay eggs until it has another blood meal. In October and November adult ticks are out seeking this blood meal so they can lay their eggs. When the whole life cycle starts over again we have an entirely new generation of ticks to deal with. Because of the ability of adult ticks to lay as many as 3,000 eggs, our traditional barrier treatment that eliminates ticks on contact really is the best method of tick control. It destroys adult ticks before they can lay eggs that will spawn hundreds and thousands of future generations of dangerous ticks.

Barrier mist + tick tubes = tick life cycle interruptus

Our tick tubes are an additional benefit to your tick control service because they eliminate those larval and nymph ticks before they can become adults. By providing treated nesting material for rodents, the nymph and larval ticks often spend their winter with their rodent hosts which then becomes their ultimate demise.

With our traditional barrier treatment we eliminate ticks and mosquitoes on contact. With the addition of our tick tubes we can interrupt the tick life cycle by eliminating tick nymphs before they become adults looking for a deer or human host.