Ticks (apartment complex, townhome, neighborhood)

[starlilly]

Has anyone noticed an increase of ticks on their dogs this season? I live in an apartment complex and somehow my dog has gotten a few ticks on him. Is this normal?

[jillabean]

I noticed more early in the season. My dogs never got any (then again, they take tick medicine), but my poor daughter picked up three so far this year just from playing outside (two she got at school). Now I check her nightly. Luckily, none were deer ticks.

[Caladium]

I've heard that insects in general will be unusually strong this year, so that probably includes ticks. So far I've noticed grass flies and fireflies are out in force. Boo about the grass flies, but yay for lots of fireflies. So far we haven't had any Japanese Beetles but I stocked up on bags just in case. I figure it could be a bad year for them.

[CaliTerp07]

My dog gets tonnnnnnnns of ticks each year. (And of course she has long fur, so it's a pain to find them). I'd say we pull off 15-20 each season, just from walks through the park and around the neighborhood. (She is an expert at suddenly diving into piles of leaves and tall grass though...)

[AppleJacks]

There was a report that this year the tick population is much larger than previous years. I've picked several off of my kids and dh has also had one so far.

I used to love being out in the woods and also letting my kids go exploring in nature and such, but now I've resigned them to playing in the front yard only. Pretty sad huh? I know too many people who have had lyme disease touch their lives and the effects have been devastating.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

NoVA has a horrible tick problem -- blame it on 1) a large population of deer and 2) a large population of field mice that seem be related to constant construction of homes and buildings.

What is worse, the Lyme disease infection rate is ridiculously high in, say, Loudoun County, almost on a part with parts of CT where the disease was first identified.

Because I do not want to use spray on-type tick medication for my dogs (such medication has a history of seizures in dogs and fertility problems for humans), I am extra vigilant about ticks. I do not let them roam in wooded or weeded areas. I also created a tick management zone in my bacyard per the Tick Management Handbook I read on the Internet (CDC, I think). You can use rocks, mulch, wood chips, etc. of several feet in depth and surround your yard away from wooded/grassy areas. This, of course, does not completely cut off ticks from the area, but signficantly reduces the number of ticks in the protected area and lowers the chance of one getting on you and injecting the Lyme spirochete.

Lyme disease was virtually unheard of in the Pacific Northwest where I lived, despite a very active lifestyle (and dogs) many people had, but I've met so many who caught it here in NoVA.

Eeek times 100.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

I might add that I also aggressively control the mice population in my area.

[ngadude]

I have found a few ticks on my dog so far this year whereas she never got them the past 2 years I've lived in this house. So maybe there is a higher amount of ticks this year unfortunately. On walks trying to keep her from running into tall areas of grass near the sidewalk in some common areas of the neighborhood that aren't being mantained very well. Unfortunately the tall grass interests her so it is easier said than done!

[vermonter16]

I've had 5 ticks this year and my husband has had 3....he never gets any - usually it is me. Neither of us are dogs but we're still getting ticks The funny thing is that we live in a townhome and have no grass in our backyard. We may only go out to the driveway or walk on the walkway to the backyard to feed the birds or something and then boom - got ticks....got ticks?

[michgc]

You all are making my head itchy. Must stop reading this thread...