Tick control in McKinney may not be a priority for many local homeowners. Maybe you believe ticks are just a threat you have to worry about when you go into the wilderness. However, it is possible to get a significant population of ticks on your property, which can cause all kinds of problems.
An Introduction To Ticks: Understanding The Basics
Ticks are arachnids, just like spiders and scorpions. However, unlike spiders and scorpions, ticks don’t hunt their food. They’re not predators but parasites that feed on their hosts’ blood, and therein lies the problem.
Ticks in McKinney wouldn’t be all that bad if all they did was leave you with itchy bites. However, ticks do a whole lot more damage than that. They will embed themselves in your skin for hours and even days to get a complete blood meal. During that time, they are capable of passing all sorts of dangerous diseases to you. Some of the most common diseases caused by ticks include:
- Lyme disease
- Babesiosis
- Ehrlichiosis
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Anaplasmosis
- Alpha-gal syndrome
Most of these diseases are quite rare, but some are unfortunately becoming more common, which is why tick protection is so important.
Top Tick-Borne Diseases: Warning Signs To Watch For
The most common and most dangerous disease caused by ticks is Lyme disease. The bacteria that cause the illness attack a wide range of systems throughout the body, including the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Once Lyme disease progresses to later stages, treatment options are limited. The good news is if caught early, Lyme disease is easy to cure.
The most obvious sign that you have Lyme disease is a bullseye-shaped rash that forms around the tick bite within a few days to a couple of weeks. This rash will expand and eventually disappear, signaling the later stages of Lyme disease. It’s important to get treatment as soon as you see a rash start to develop around a tick bite.
The Lyme disease bullseye does not always develop. Other signs that you could have this illness include flu-like symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, and headache. If you start experiencing these symptoms after a tick bite, seek help right away.
Tick Prevention: Remedy Factors That Attract Ticks To Your Property
Tick prevention is the best way to avoid frequent exposure to tick-borne illnesses. Of course, keeping your pets on a veterinary-approved flea and tick prophylactic is a great step to avoiding a tick problem on your property, but you also have to think about wildlife.
Aside from pets, wildlife is the most common vector that introduces tick infestations onto properties. When raccoons, skunks, and other animals come around your McKinney property, they carry fleas and ticks with them, and these external parasites may decide to stay behind.
This means taking measures to make your property less attractive to wildlife can mean the difference between winding up with a tick problem and never having to deal with it. So keep your garbage tightly covered and your pet foods securely stored, and make sure you are dealing with any wildlife infestations right away.
Professional Tick Control Services: Stress-Free And Effective
Unfortunately, tick removal is no easy feat once you have an active tick problem. The best thing you can do if you develop a breeding population of ticks on your property is to call the McKinney home pest control experts here at EcoArmor Pest Defense.
We’re not just familiar with all the species of ticks in the Lone Star State; we know where they like to hide, what pathogens they carry, and how to get rid of them. So don’t risk exposure to deadly and debilitating diseases every time you walk out to your driveway. Contact us today.
