Tick-borne diseases are on the rise and, with threats like Lyme disease, no family should be without tick protection. Are you considering tick service? Do you have questions about what this service entails? If you choose Thomas Pest Services as your pest control company, this is what you can expect.
Ticks don't crawl or fly into your yard, they are carried in. The creatures that are most responsible for exposing people to ticks are mice. The link between these two pests is so great, outbreaks of Lyme disease can be estimated based on mouse populations tracked during the year before. Understanding this is key to understanding how tick control works.
At Thomas Pest Services, we use the Tick Box Tick Control System to effectively control tricks. The boxes used contain a bait that is attractive to mice. When a mouse enters a box a small applicator wick applies a low-dose insecticide to the rodent. This insecticide is Fipronil--the same insecticide found in veterinary-prescribed tick and flea products. While Fipronil works to eliminate ticks, it does not harm the rodents or any animal that consumes the rodent. A single dose of this product can protect a mouse for up to 40 days against any new ticks.
Service begins with a professional inspection performed by your Thomas Pest Services technician. Your technician will identify "hot spots" for tick activity and discuss their findings with you.
After the inspection, your technician will walk around the perimeter of your property with a measuring wheel, marking out locations for stations with flags. These will be placed about 30 feet apart.
Once locations are determined, reusable metal cases are put in these locations and secured to the ground. On these cases, special labeling will be applied, detailing the installation date.
Inside each metal case, bait stations will be installed. While the metal cases are reusable, the bait stations are not. They will be collected during routine service visits.
A follow-up visit will be 90 days after your initial installation. Your technician will ask a few simple questions about any changes to people or pets living or visiting the property. All stations will be opened and checked. Any completed bait stations will be removed and new stations will be installed. These will be secured in trash bags and tightly sealed with duct tape. The labeling on the metal case will be updated with a new installation date.
The final service for the year will be performed 90 days after the previous service. The same process will be used to remove completed bait stations and metal stations will be removed and brought back to the office for winter storage.
For the best protection, rodent monitoring and control should be a part of your service. Your TPS technician will discuss this with you.
If you have questions or would like to request service, you can contact us at (518) 861-4921 for immediate assistance.