TICKS how to kill em?

[stellamaris]

Tics

Can anyone help with how to get rid of tics in my garden. I live in Kerry, Ireland and am in sheep country, there seems to be an abundance of tics that are in our garden and this is really putting me off getting out there and making an vegetable garden. Even when cutting the lawn these things have jumped up and attached themselves. I have been growing veg in pots around the house area - but would like to be able to create a proper patch. Someone has advised putting lime down which they said would kill the tics and help the soil? I have a cat so do not want to put anything that is harmful to him. Around our garden is unused land, which is gorse and trees that come up to our fence, but there is nothing we can do about that. Any ideas greatfully received. Thanks.

[contadino]

Nasty little buggers, ticks. Other than squashing them by hand I don't know how to kill them. They live in grass, though, so keeping the grass really short (or getting rid of it altogether) will help. Our dogs always get ticks in spring, but when I've got the weeds under control, the numbers drop dramatically.

[stellamaris]

I think you are right, I will have to take back any long grass and keep the garden surrounds clear as possible - there goes my natural wildlife garden! - also I have a friend who said that overhanging foliage also harbors tics and they can drop onto you. something out of a horror movie eh! But there must be a way to stop them from multiplying other than napalming the garden and concreting it over - until then I will continue with the patio crops.

[Sky]

Maybe find a farm supply outlet and ask their advise on how to kill them en mass

[stellamaris]

Sky, thanks I will do that - I am sure that they will be able to advise me - sheep are dipped so even a mixture of dip solution sprayed around might help.

[ina]

I don't think there is a way of chemically getting rid of them - I think I would have heard of something, as they are a problem here on farms. What use would be a garden you can't go into because you've doused it in chemicals? Anyway, I'll ask our tick specialist...

[Millymollymandy]

Are there any insect repellants for humans which repel ticks? Must have a look at what my many different lotions say, but they're not something that normally bother us like other biting insects. I'd suggest wearing long trousers and wellies when working in the garden as that ought to keep them off your legs.

[stellamaris]

I have been reading up on them and there is no repellant - advice is to wear light coloured clothing so you can see them on you. The nymphs are tiny like a pin head so are very hard to see and look like little black crabs. They are incredibly hard to kill, a fingernail imbedded into them normally does it, or you can drown them. Tree tea oil is useful to get them off but you have to really extract the head which is burrowed into the skin and be sure that all is removed. The worrying thing is the diseases that they bring, Lymes which can be fatal. I think they are on the increase as more cases are appearing. I can put frontline on my cat which does kill them when they bite - although the last one i found was on his chest and had made a hole - an abcess with its demise - really disgusting.

I recon its starting to be a big problem - could be that they like the warm damp conditions that have been with us for the last couple of years. I met a chap from Lithuania who said its a huge problem there and there had been a policy where spray was used but now its no longer done, something to do with economy - and if they get bitten they have to take the tic in a jar to the docs so it can be analyzed for potential Lymes D. My partner was just cutting the lawn and he got one burrowed into his stomach even tho he was covered up boots the lot - so I just don't know the answer. I hate the thought of using any harmful stuff because of the other garden inhabitants. We have pine trees around the perimeter and wondered if these would attract them. Thanks all for your advice really appreciated.

[ina]

Here's a reply from a colleague (kind of) of mine who does research into ticks:

"I would have thought that a tick infestation in someone's garden would be due to roe deer coming in from local woods. So making it properly deer proof should reduce the ticks over a couple of years. Definite NO to spraying around sheep dip! That would kill EVERYTHING! The only vegetation control that would really do any good would be to have very very short cropped grass, mowed every week. Other than that - live with it and just keep checking for ticks! As long as they don't stay attached for more than a day, there is much less chance of Lyme disease."

[stellamaris]

Hi Ina, I believe that deer are around but we do have fencing and they have never got in. But good advice and even tho the grass is cut every week the fencing is only the open type so anything that is furry will be able to go in and out of the garden and bring them back with em, my simba for example..... I think maybe asking the farmer if we can go cut down some of the gorse and start to clear undergrowth the other side of the fence could be a solution. Thank you for all suggestions - I shall now don the wellies and make a start - anyone for venison?

[Sky]

How about burning the vegetation.
Gardeners used to do it with a blow lamp kind of thing.
You'd have to cut it all down to stubs first though.
If it was my garden I wouldn't give a stuff about using chemicals if it rid me of tics, I wouldn't be using the garden anyways if they were jumping on me every time I went out so it would be bettter.
I might be self sufficient but I'm not bothered whether it's organic or not and not all precious about using chemicals when they're needed.

Just a thought is there any insects that like tics, if you don't want to chemically kill maybe there's some bugs you can buy similar to what they do in greenhouses to release on your land and let them have a feast.

[Sky]

That should have been ... self sufficientish
No way are we self sufficient unfortunately.

[frozenthunderbolt]

useful to note that fly spray sprayed on a cotton ball and pressed against the tic on your skin will kill it and loosen it - less likely to leave jaws behind

I got Seed tics (tiny little bastards that live in long grass) all over my back once when i was little - had to be flysprayed then plucked with tweezers.

We no longer have long grass anywhere (due to sheep) and haven't seen a tick in years.

[Millymollymandy]

I've looked at one of my many bottles of insect repellant and it does say for ticks. So why not go to the chemist and see what they have in the way of repellant that you can try? I have to slather myself in Jungle Formula every morning for about 4 months of the year to guard against harvest mites, it's a pain but it is better than not being able to go outdoors!!!

[Sky]

A blob of vaseline on them is supposed to suffocate them too, once dead you can ease them off.