The Secret To Effective Flea And Tick Control For Your Plano Property

Fleas and ticks in Plano are mostly annoying pests. It is gross when you find an engorged tick on your pet, but you pluck it off and move on with your day. When you see your pet scratching, you may clean your pet's bedding, vacuum your rugs, and give your pet a flea bath. Sometimes, this is all you need to deal with ticks and fleas. Other times, it isn't. When tick and flea control becomes hard, Plano residents reach out to us for assistance. All-Safe Pest & Termite offers industry-leading pest control in Plano. But do you know that you can do something about these two kinds of pests before they get into your home and create an infestation requiring professional control? Join us as we look at helpful facts about fleas and ticks in Plano, why effective control is essential, the secret to keeping these pests away from your property, and what works best to make your exterior resistant to fleas and ticks.

How Fleas And Ticks Are Similar Pests

Fleas and ticks are alike in many ways. For example, they both have six legs. Yes, you read that right. Young ticks only have six legs. They grow another pair when they reach their adult stage. So, at first, they are similar to fleas. But, while mildly interesting, this fact won't help you with effective flea and tick control. Let's look at similarities that offer insight into how to prevent a flea or tick infestation in your home.

Fleas And Ticks And Pets

Fleas and ticks get on dogs and cats. There is a whole industry based on protecting pets from fleas and ticks. If you have a pet, you likely have flea and tick control products in your home. These products don't just protect your pets; they protect you by helping to stop ticks from hitching rides into your home. Here are a few examples of flea and tick products.

• Collars
• Powders
• Sprays
• Bath products
• Oral medication
• Tick-removal tools
• Yard treatments

Speak with your veterinarian about what products are best for your pests and right for your family and consider speaking to a licensed pest management professional about yard treatments. 

Mice And Rats Move Fleas And Ticks Indoors

Fleas and ticks sometimes use rodents to enter homes. A tiny mouse can have as many as a hundred seed ticks on its body. When you seal exterior entry points and apply metal flashing to guard vulnerable spots, you don't just keep mice and rats out; you keep fleas and ticks out as well.

• Use expanding foam to fill in holes and gaps.
• Use a caulking gun to seal around window and door frames.
• Replace weatherstripping that has worn out.
• Repair or replace damaged screens.
• Install door sweeps on exterior doors that don't have them.
• Trim branches away from your roofline.
• Put wire mesh in the downspouts of your gutter system.
• Apply metal flashing to wood that rodents are gnawing on.

These exclusions won't just keep rodents, ticks, and fleas out. They also help to exclude all household pests, even insects that chew on wood. 

Fleas And Ticks Take Blood Meals

Fleas and ticks feed on blood for sustenance. That means they're going to bite. While they prefer dogs and cats, they can bite humans to get a meal, which is why they're dangerous to human health. Let's look at how ticks can present a threat to you and your pets and why it is best to get rid of ticks and fleas as soon as possible. 

Why Fleas And Ticks Are Both Considered Dangerous

You know that ticks are bad. Lyme disease is a chronic illness that has increased drastically over the last two decades. You may also know that ticks transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, meat allergy, and other dangerous diseases. Most Plano residents know that ticks are a threat, but fleas don't get the same respect. It is likely because the diseases spread by fleas are mistaken for the flu or the common cold. You should be aware that fleas spread typhus, cat scratch disease, and even the plague. While the plague is treatable, it's not fun to get.

It is common knowledge that ticks and fleas make pets miserable. They can cause medical symptoms, make hair fall off, cause open wounds, and many other problems. But their impact on human health is often overlooked.

When a tick or flea bites you, there is a chance of disease transmission. While not all ticks and fleas are infected with a transmissible disease, and not all species can transmit all the diseases associated with them, the risk is ever-present. 

We recommend checking out what the CDC says about ticks and fleas. They have many resource pages that will help you understand how concerned you should be about flea and tick diseases. It is helpful to know the warning signs and risk level. While rare, flea and tick diseases are not something to ignore.          

How Fleas And Ticks Find Their Way Onto Our Properties

Now that you understand fleas and ticks better, we can use that information to keep them out of your yard. We discussed how these pests use dogs, cats, mice, and rats to get inside. Let's look at how they also use animals to get onto your property.

Fleas and ticks live on wild animals. While they do it differently, both will hitch rides on animals to come into your yard. They won't crawl or hop their way to your exterior walls. Everything you do to prevent wildlife activity around your home will reduce the number of fleas and ticks. Here are a few tips that will help keep ticks out of your yard:

• Keep your trash in covered containers and secure them so mid-sized animals cannot knock them over.
• Keep your trash receptacles as clean as possible. The smell of decaying organic matter attracts wildlife from a distance.
• Remove clutter to deter mice and rats. These rodents have poor eyesight and use their whiskers to feel for objects on the ground. Removing objects makes your yard a large and unfriendly place for a mouse or rat to explore.
• Rake leaves to remove a hiding place rodents use. Mice and rats hide under leaves and other organic debris, including wood piles, construction materials, and wooden pallets.
• Move bird feeders away from your exterior walls. Rodents love seeds as much as birds do. They don't even wait for seeds to fall to the ground. They'll scale walls to get to feeders.
• Stay on top of raking up nuts underneath trees that produce them near your home. Nuts are a primary source of food for many animals.
• Remove containers that capture rainwater. Pick up cups, bowls, toys, yard equipment, plant pots, etc.
• Address moisture conditions that provide puddles for rodents. Cleaning your gutter system is one of the best ways to deter wildlife and make the habitat around your home unsuitable for fleas and ticks.
• Use fencing material to keep animals from getting under your deck and in other exterior structural voids. When installing fencing material, make sure to plant it at least a foot below the ground's surface. Doing this will prevent animals from tunneling underneath.  

Wildlife management offers natural tick prevention and flea control around your home. While it is hard work, it is worth the effort. Taking these steps can reduce the number of ticks and fleas below your level of comfort. If your level of comfort is zero, you'll need more control than these tips provide.

The Most Effective Flea And Tick Control For Lawrenceville Properties

There is one similarity we didn't cover; the products and methods to get rid of ticks and fleas are the same. In fact, treatments for these two pests will also help with mosquito control. Routine treatments applied around your home will eliminate all these pests in their hiding places. If you live in Plano, Texas, reach out to All-Safe Pest & Termite. We offer treatments for fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and rodents. During routine service visits, your technician will apply a mist application to address mosquitoes and knock down fleas and ticks at the same time, then your technician will check bait stations and traps around your home and remove any mice or rats. If rodent pressures increase, so will our measures to prevent them from getting in. We may add other control products, seal up entry points found, or provide recommendations to address vulnerabilities. When you have ongoing pest control from All-Safe Pest & Termite, you get comprehensive services and guidance for all your pest concerns, not just fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and rodents.

Getting started with a residential pest control plan for your Plano home is easy. Jump to our contact page and drop us a line. We may guide you over the phone or send one of our friendly technicians to inspect your property and help you select the right control plan that is perfect for you and your pets. We're here to help. Connect with us today!