ticks in house


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Old 05-23-18, 05:10 AM
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ticks in house

we have no pets and rarely venture outside though this weekend we did do some yardwork, myself in multiple places.
Within the last couple days Ive found two adult, what I believe are, dog ticks IN MY HOUSE!!
One I found in my washing machine before I even put my work clothes in it. It was literally crawling around the inside on the top of the drum. I flushed him after spraying it with perimeter poison.
This morning I found one crawling on the floor in my hall in front of the washer/dryer. I picked him up and flushed him.
While I believe the proximity of them would make me think they were on clothes in the washer I had them soaking in water to avoid/drown any. Are ticks even bothered by a soaking tub of water or will they crawl right out. Ive recently read to dry any clothes for a few minutes to kill them before washing.

Is 2 in 3 days something to be concerned with? Ive read dog ticks are one of the VERY few species that can infest rather than just dying indoors.
We do not even have pets! I dont know where these 2 were coming from. Would a normal perimeter spray, that I use for ants work with ticks? I was thinking of getting a new pump sprayer and just going nuts as I did once before when we had a concrete ant problem.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 05:27 AM
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@PABUGMAN will be along to give you some professional advise.

In the mean time, I suspect they did come in on your clothes after yard work. But for me, that wouldn't be the primary concern. You & anyone else who worked outside need to be looked over very good, top to bottom & in private areas. Check under arms, back, buttocks etc. Have someone check you over really well in places you cant see. If they were on your clothes, they are most likely on you. They got on your clothes trying to get to you.
If you find any, put them in a jar with alcohol & save them for a month or so in case you get sick. Show them to your doctor so he will know what kind of tick & how to treat the situation.

As for ticks in the house & outside, I'd recommend calling a pest control guy & have him come out & spray both inside & outside.
I can not answer your question on whether ant spray will work for ticks. I just dont know.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 05:42 AM
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When I lived in fla my house would get fleas more yrs than not and I had no pets in the house! I assume they came in on my pant's legs. I've always thought crushing the tick was the best way to get rid of them. Keeping the yard trimmed helps. As mentioned above our resident bug pro should be along later with expert advice.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 07:49 AM
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They sit on bushes and plants and wait for someone (animal or person) to walk by so they can jump on them. Not just dogs and you don't have to have pets.
They're not sitting in the house, they're outside and you're bringing them in. When I see them, I put them in a piece of scotch tape and close them up and toss them in the trash. They're hard to kill otherwise.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 10:45 AM
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All good advice above. Here in northeast it is rare, and I don't think I've ever seen ticks reproduce indoors, so relax on that one, at least for now. Not impossible though.

Ticks will latch on like Shadeladie said. Possibly they weren't on your skin but on clothing and got/fell off when they didn't find the environment they wanted. I'd check thoroughly though, especially hairlines, belt lines, where-the-sun-don't-shine, etc.

This time of year ticks are the most active. It won't be like this when the hot weather is here consistently. I can't say that I understand why, but it happens that way.

Consider using a deet based spray on lower legs, shoes, etc at least this time of year. I've read that 30% active ingredient is maximum unless you're in a jungle environment. The 9% to 15% should be fine. There's some military surplus out there that's up in the 90%'s!!

When you mention perimeter spray, I'm assuming you're talking about exterior? Focus your spray at "edges", meaning where short vegetation meets tall. Where grass meets field. Where field meets woods. Animals/people walk along edges and the ticks like to be elevated so they can latch on to the body of the animal rather than trying to latch on to the moving, narrow diameter legs of the animal.

If you find ticks latched on to people, save them in jar for future identification in the event that someone gets symptoms. The medical profession likes to see evidence. Now, I don't know this to be a fact, but I read once that we shouldn't save them in alcohol as that may sanitize the tick. This was in reference to a deer tick and lyme disease. This particular lab wanted to test the tick for lyme disease, not just ID the species of tick. I've not heard this theory re-inforced, but on the occassion that I've saved ticks, I sprayed a tiny amount of insect spray into a jar and saved the tick inside. That way it dies, so no escape, and it may not ruin a test. A tiny amount of any insecticide is all you need. Spray inside the jar first, let it dry a little or swab out excess, then put tick inside. If you put tick inside before your spray, the spray may blow the tick right out of there. Another way would be to put the tick inside first, spray a cotton ball/paper towel and insert same into jar.

I don't know how water affects them nor how long and what temperature a clothes dryer would have to be.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 11:10 AM
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thanks guys, we check ourselves thoroughly after being outside. I was in some tall brush that day but it was odd one was in the washer before we put clothes in there so that freaked me out.
spraying the yard is a tough one because I bee keep and I dont want to kill my bees,. I usually spray my perimeter inside and out.
 
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Old 05-23-18, 07:17 PM
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I am a tick magnet, if you have just one on your property, I will find it. I rarely go out to do lawn work without spraying my shoes, socks, a ring of skin above my socks and then put my pants back down and spray a ring around my pants. We also do regular tick checks in areas that I can not see such as back head and privates.

I am allergic to the saliva of ticks and welt up tremendously when bit and it usually leaves a scar. You can imagine what my legs look like. Currently have one bite on my lower shin above sock line and two on my inner thigh, apparently from the same tick as there was only one to remove that time.

We put our clothes in the dryer at high heat to sanitize against any additional critters. I also spray my yard every year. Never thought of saving them, I always monitor and if any sign of a bullseye rash shows, immediately contact my doctor for antibiotics.
 
 

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