Facts
The page will help you learn more about ticks and mosquitoes
Mosquitos cause more human deaths a year than any animal.
Mosquito Facts:
- Mosquitoes use the blood they acquire for their eggs. For food mosquitoes feed on nectar and sugars from plants.
- Mosquitoes can transmit diseases including Zika, dengue, Triple E, and West Nile. Triple E and West Nile are the biggest concern for transmission in New England.
- Mosquitoes are a threat to dogs. When biting a dog, the mosquito can pass along the parasite responsible for Heartworm disease.
- Mosquitoes cause more human deaths a year than any other creature.
- Mosquitoes can find us from 85 to 115 feet away.
- Luckily, mosquitoes are slow fliers at between 1 and 1.5 mph.
- Mosquitoes are attracted to movement, infra-red radiation from warm bodies, the carbon dioxide we exhale and dark colored clothing.
Tick Facts:
- One tick can lay 2000-3000 eggs.
- Ticks can detect heat, vibration, breath and body odor to find a host.
- Ticks are most commonly found in areas that are wooded, shady and damp. They can also be found waiting for a meal in brushy vegetation and high grass. They are not as typically found in short grass with high sun exposure.
- Black legged ticks are commonly known as the deer tick. They are known to spread diseases including babesiosis, anaplasmosis, Powassan virus, Borrelia miyamotoi and most commonly, Lyme disease. Dog ticks are larger than deer ticks. They are a little bigger than a sunflower seed compared to the poppy seed sized deer tick. Dog ticks are responsible for spreading tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- Ticks can live for two to three years. The myth that they all die in the winter is unfortunately not true. They can survive under leaf debris and other brush and become active again when temps start rising.
- Due to deforestation and warming climate trends, tick counts are on the rise.
- The beginning of the first peak tick activity begins in March or April. Due to warm weathers in 2020, the tick season is starting in the beginning of March.
F.A.Q.Frequently Asked Questions:
How long does your service last?
Our treatments should last between 3 to 4 weeks. After this duration, the products have been naturally and harmlessly broken down. Our synthetic pyrethroid product works so well that if you see more than a few remaining ticks or mosquitoes in the first two weeks, we will come out and reapply for no charge to make sure your family and guests are safe to play outside. Sorry, this does not apply for our all-natural products. We are proud to offer all natural options and we use them around our own gardens, but we know from experience that they do not work as quickly and do not last as long in the environment.
Should I have my yard protected again after 3 or 4 weeks?
For continued mosquito protection, our season pass is your best bet. This is because the mosquito needs only the smallest bit of moisture sitting in a gutter or low area of your property to lay up to 300 eggs. The female mosquito can lay eggs up to three times in their short life. For ticks you could potentially get away with only treating once in the spring, summer and fall to disrupt the various stages in the ticks two to three year life span. If you are in a high animal traffic area or abutting a good bit of woods or dense ground coverage, you might want to consider the season pass to make sure you are protected once a month.
How does the season pass work?
Very easy! Not only do you save money but you don’t have to do anything else. We will keep track of treatment times and when your property is ready for a re-treat, we will text or email you what day we are coming. When we come you don’t even have to be there. If you are home when we arrive, we just ask that you keep the kids and dogs inside for 30 to 45 minutes after our service. This will give our products time to dry onto the targeted areas for optimal protection and be safe for bite free playtime to continue.
Do you have all natural options?
Yes, we use a few different all natural solutions as a stand-alone choice for customers or along side with our synthetic products.
Are your synthetic products safe?
Yes, our synthetic solution is a widely used, accepted and EPA approved pyrethroid. Pyrethroids are based on pyrethrins that are naturally-occurring within the chrysanthemum flower. These synthetic products have been used by farmers and commercial pest companies for over 30 years. They are approved by the EPA as well as EU regulatory authorities and are used globally to protect from pest that carry many diseases. Pyrethrin products can be found in your local retail stores in products including flea and tick shampoo for dogs, lice shampoos, sprays for your hiking and camping gear and even pre-treated clothes. Pyrethroids are popular solutions as they are easily broken down in the environment instead of resulting in high concentrations or absorption into non-targeted plants. However, they are not perfect. They are toxic to aquatic life, so we do not allow these products near your fish pond. Exposure to concentrated permethrin can also be toxic to cats, so concentrations should be kept low and product completely dry before cats are allowed in the area, and even still close monitoring of your cat is advised.
What if it rains?
Once our products are applied and dried in your yard, they will last through a rain. Because of this, we won’t treat customer’s yards on a rainy day. If there are many consecutive days of excessive rainfall in the first 14 days of the treatment and you are seeing a return of mosquitoes or ticks, let us know and we will retreat. (Not applicable for all natural products)
