ticks

[Watertown Gal]

One reason Tennessee (and other parts of the South) has such a tick problem is because of our mild winters....it just doesn't get cold enough to kill them off.

[alicenevada]

Originally Posted by Watertown Gal

One reason Tennessee (and other parts of the South) has such a tick problem is because of our mild winters....it just doesn't get cold enough to kill them off.

Tell that to my electric bill!

[Watertown Gal]

Originally Posted by alicenavada

Tell that to my electric bill!

Ha Ha! Mine too!!

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by 2mares

John, this is an unusual year for ticks here in TN. I have never seen them this bad and Ive lived here 33 yrs. and have alway been and outdoors person.

I think that too depends on where you live. Where I currently live the bad tick problem isn't unusual. They have been this bad or worse most of the 10 years I've lived here. 2005 was the worst I've ever seen. As bad as this year is, it doesn't even come close to what we had here in 2005. The only "good" tick year I've had was 2006. 2007 was bad in the beginning but didn't last long because of the dought. I've been in TN a total of 26 years, but didn't have any tick problems where I lived the first 16 years.

[welltravelled]

So if I have a dog they are going to be totally covered by ticks and when i go mow my lawn I am going to be covered by ticks? Do they get in the house?

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by lutarian

So if I have a dog they are going to be totally covered by ticks and when i go mow my lawn I am going to be covered by ticks? Do they get in the house?

Depends on how bad they are in your area and whether or not you use protection on yourself and your dog, and whether or not you let your dog in wooded areas or tall grass and weeds. Some areas you can walk through the woods, grass and anywhere else and not even get one tick on you. Some areas you can't. I do get them on me while walking from my front door to my car or when I'm on the deck letting the dog out. I stay out of the yard as much as possible.

If you're up on a riding mower you probably won't get any on you unless you're coming up against brush or low hanging trees. As bad as my tick problem is, the guy who mows my yard only gets them on him when he's under the trees. Back when I was doing my yard with a push mower, I did get them on me while mowing, but a riding mower keeps you out of the grass, so you should be fine. If your yard is of a size that can be sprayed for ticks, you shouldn't have much of a problem either.

If you find them in the house, more than likely you or your dog carried them in. It has happened that they will infest a house on their own, but it's rare. For example, somewhere in Arizona years ago a farmer brought tick infested manure to the area. He and his neighbor ended up with a huge tick problem in the house. But like I said, it's rare. If you keep your dog protected, any ticks that he brings in should die and won't infest your house.

If you have any concerns about the area you want to move to, when you're out looking at homes, talk to the neighbors and see if they know of any tick problems in the neighborhood. That's probably your best way of finding out for sure.

[welltravelled]

I love the outdoors. That is my thing. I can't really stand staying inside..except to sleep..and even then I would rather sleep in a tent outside...

[Grizzlybear34]

Originally Posted by lutarian

I love the outdoors. That is my thing. I can't really stand staying inside..except to sleep..and even then I would rather sleep in a tent outside...

I am sure the ticks would like you to sleep outside as well!

[Godsdove]

I'm in Eastern TN and though we have seen a few ticks....not really that many that I can tell. We've lived down here over a year now.

We moved from southern Indiana. We never hardly saw ticks anywhere but my in-laws house. You can barely walk anywhere on their property without getting one on you....but after a while you just get used to it. They just consider it a way of life. Just keep checking yourself and use the tweezer method to remove (seems best) and then put alcohol on it. That has worked for decades for my husband and my in-laws....and my father-in-law is a tick magnet....so he is pretty much an expert.

The only tick I ever got was on a day when the only place I went was Wal-Mart....never walked through any grass at all....so go figure. And it was in March. haha