Lyme Disease Prevention
• Wear light colored clothes to see ticks better.
• Wear shoes that cover the feet (no sandals), and socks.
• Wear long pants, tucked into your socks, and a long-sleeved shirt, tucked in.
• Wear a hat or scarf if you will pass under trees.
• Spray shoes, clothing and/or skin with repellent. (See Repellents below.)
• Spray clothing (but never skin) with permethrin, an insecticide. (See below.)
• Wear repellent when gardening or doing yard work.
• Buy Rynoskin long underwear, socks, and hoods at 1-866-934-7546 or www. rynoskin.com .
• Hike in the center of trails, so you won’t brush against plants. Avoid tall grass.
• Check your body frequently for ticks. Use a mirror, and also feel for ticks.
• Check pets for ticks before they enter the house.
• Remove ticks promptly to lessen the chances of getting Lyme disease.
• Put clothes in the dryer on high heat for an hour to kill ticks on them. If clothes are washed
first, dry them on high heat for an extra hour after the clothes have dried. (Ticks don’t
drown and can survive the washing machine.)
• Put clothes in a tightly sealed trash bag, and spray permethrin into the bag, to kill ticks
before laundering. (Do the spraying outdoors.)
Permethrin (an insecticide) kills ticks on contact. The CDC recommends spraying it on clothes (but
never on skin). Spray outdoors, the day before an outing, and allow clothes to dry before wearing.
Spray the outside of shoes and cuffs of socks, but not the bottoms of socks or any clothing that could
become wet with perspiration, or permethrin could be absorbed through the skin. Don’t spray it on the
clothing or shoes of young children who put things in their mouths. Permethrin remains effective on
clothes for about 2 weeks, even after several launderings. It is in Repel Permanone and other products
containing permanone, sold in the camping department at Walmart, at some other stores, or at www. scs-
mall.com .
Repellents containing DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) are recommended by the CDC. DEET doesn’t
actually repel ticks. It works by making the tick unable to detect carbon dioxide, so that ticks will not be
attracted to people that have been sprayed. Excessive and prolonged use of DEET on skin can
occasionally cause seizures, especially in children. DEET should be washed off skin when coming
indoors. Don’t spray DEET on clothing that already has permethrin on it, as there may be a chemical
reaction. The CDC says picaridin repels mosquitoes and may possibly be effective against ticks. It is in
Cutter Advanced. Picaridin is not as toxic as DEET and doesn’t have to be washed off promptly. The
CDC says oil of lemon eucalyptus is as effective as low concentrations of DEET in repelling mosquitoes.
There is some indication that it may repel ticks, but research is needed. Don’t apply repellent to the
face or hands.
Remove ticks properly. Don’t use alcohol, other chemicals, or a hot match, or the tick may vomit germs
into you. Don’t squeeze the tick’s gut, or germs may squirt into you. The safest way to remove a tick is
to slide something under it and apply pressure at the mouth (the point of attachment) for about a minute
or 2 until the tick releases itself. Fine-pointed tweezers may be used for the larger ticks, grasping the
tick at the mouth and pulling it straight out, allowing the tick time to release itself. Be caeful not to
squeeze the tick’s body, just the head. The Lyme Association sells a tick remover tool that slides under
the tick and removes ticks safely. Use a washcloth in the bathtub or shower to remove unattached
ticks. To buy a tick removal kit, send a check for $5 to:
Lyme Association, P.O. Box 25853, Overland Park., KS 66225.
Lyme Assoc. of Greater K.C., (913) 438-5963 (GET-LYME); Lymefight @aol.com; www. Lymefight.info
Make Your Property Safe from Ticks
Ticks need to keep cool and moist and like tall grass, damp piles of leaves, dense brush, and thick
flower gardens. Wild animals can carry ticks into your yard. One tick can drop off a deer and lay several
thousand eggs. If a female tick carries Lyme disease, only a few of the larvae will be born infected. The
larvae normally become infected by biting an infected rabbit, mouse, chipmunk, bird, or other small
animal. The larva then molts into a nymph and transmits the disease to an animal or person during its
next blood meal. Then it molts into an adult. Adult deer ticks and lone star ticks prefer to feed on deer,
but they will bite another large animal or a human. Ticks usually remain attached and feeding for
several days. Ticks don’t jump or fly. They wait on the tips of grass or on other plants for a person or
animal to brush past, and then the tick grabs onto the host. Sometimes they drop from trees.
• Keep the lawn mowed, and allow it to dry between waterings.
• Put playground equipment in a sunny area away from trees and bushes.
• Keep clotheslines away from brush and shrubs.
• Clear away brush and leaf litter. Widen paths, so people won’t brush against plants.
• Prune trees and bushes along walkways so people won’t brush against them.
• Prune or remove trees to allow more sunlight into the yard.
• Feed birds only in winter, when they carry fewer ticks. They find seed and insects in summer.
• Put wood chips or gravel around the perimeter of the yard, to make a barrier between the
yard and the woods, so you won’t brush against plants when mowing. Teach children
(and pets, if possible) not to cross the barrier.
• Sprays containing permethrin are effective but toxic. Bayer Lawn and Garden Multi-Insect
Killer claims to kill ticks and to be safe, even on vegetables. Order it at 1-866-YARDIAC or
at www. yardiac.com . Spray where ticks are, under bushes and the perimeter of the yard.
Spraying the mowed part of the lawn should not be necessary.
• Put cotton balls, soaked in permethrin and then dried, into toilet paper tubes or short pieces
of plastic pipe, and lay them in gardens and brushy areas. Mice or chipmunks crawl into
the tubes and take the cotton balls to their nests, where the permethrin will kill ticks on
them without harming the animals. You may prefer to buy Damminix Tubes, at 1-617-742-
2400 or www. Damminix.com. This method may reduce the number of ticks by more than
90%. (Some people buy Guinea hens to eat ticks. Some report great success, but others say
they don’t eat enough ticks. They are noisy; don’t buy them if you have close neighbors.)
• Maxforce Bait Boxes can be installed by pest control companies in some parts of the U.S.
They contain pesticide applicators that kill ticks on mice and chipmunks that rub against them.
• Buy a Biter Fighter tick trap for $94.95 at 1-800-879-0543 or
www. old-fashioned-values.com.
Keep Wild Animals Out of the Yard
• Plant flowers and shrubs that animals don’t like to eat.
• Rub Irish Spring soap on plants deer like to eat.
• Use animal repellents, such as deer and geese repellents sold by Yardiac, 1-866-YARDIAC.
• Don’t have dense plants that small animals hide in, such as ivy, near the house.
• Eliminate bird feeders and birdbaths. Spilled birdseed attracts mice.
• Don’t leave pet food outside overnight.
• Eliminate stone walls, or fill in spaces between stones, to keep small animals out.
• Keep wood piles away from the house. They attract small animals.
• Build a fence, 10 feet high if you are trying to keep out deer.
• Put garbage in plastic bags in a covered trash can, away from the house.
• Buy a 4-poster deer feeding station to kill ticks on deer that visit your property, sold by the
ALDF. For information, see www. ALDF.com, email DavidLWeld @aldf.com, or write to
David L.Weld, ALDF, Mill Pond Offices, 293 Route 100, Somers, NY 10589.