What You Need to Know About Ticks in Arkansas

Memorial Day weekend is only a few days away, and soon summer will be in full swing. For many Arkansans, this means days spent out on our state’s beautiful lakes, nights spent grilling out with friends … and the worry of finding a tick crawling – or worse, latched – on their skin after a day outdoors. While you can typically remove the tick and get past the situation relatively unscathed, ticks can pose a very real threat to their human and animal hosts – namely in the form of Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever for people and Heartworm for pets.

At Command Pest Control, we believe education is the beginning of Arkansans making the best tick control decisions for themselves and their families. Read on to learn more about ticks and how to deal with them should you have an encounter with one of our parasitic neighbors.

Tick Appearance

The various species of ticks differ in size and color. The smallest can be less than 1mm, while larger ticks can be almost as big as a centimeter. Ticks are typically somewhere on the brown spectrum in terms of color, with some being almost black and some having a reddish tint. An engorged tick is usually a grayish color.

Tick Habitat

Ticks live in lush areas full of vegetation, with certain species requiring some sort of moisture. They reside in their preferred environment until attaching to a desirable host, such as a human, dog, cat or livestock animal.

Tick Diet

All ticks feed on the blood of a host, and most are not too picky about what species their host is. While we notice ticks feeding on mammals the most, they are known to also bite birds and reptiles as well.

Signs of a Tick Infestation

You have probably stumbled upon a tick-infested area if begin finding ticks on your skin. Also make note of where you pets have been whenever you find ticks on them, as they have probably found a tick-infested area you should avoid.

Tick Prevention

Ticks will only live where there is a suitable host, so unless you have another pest in your house (such as bats in the attic or mice) the chances of your home becoming infested are low. Your yard however, could offer both the vegetation and hosts ticks need to thrive. A tick treatment at the beginning of summer will make your yard less welcoming for these pests and prevent an infestation. Get a free Arkansas tick treatment quote for your yard here.

Tick Removal

Improper removal can result in an infection, so all ticks should be removed with care. Prompt removal is also important, as the sooner a tick is removed the less likely the host will contract a tick-born illness. To remove a tick, use tweezers to grab the pest as close to your skin as possible and pull.