How Homeowners Can Reduce Tick Risk

Ticks are commonly found in shady, damp, brushy, wooded or grassy areas. Yard measures focus on reducing leaf litter, tall grass, brush and other favorable habitat near frequently used parts of the property.

Start with these yard changes.

1. Remove leaf litter from high-use areas.Remove leaf litter around the home and from frequently used yard areas, especially along lawn edges and other places where leaves accumulate.
2. Keep grass mowed and brush controlled.Clear tall grasses and brush around the house and along the edge of maintained lawn.
3. Create a defined edge.Consider a roughly three-foot-wide strip of wood chips or gravel between lawn and wooded or brushy areas.
4. Move play and seating areas inward.Keep swing sets, picnic tables, patios and frequently used furniture away from wooded or brushy yard edges when possible.
5. Manage wood piles and rodent shelter.Stack firewood neatly in a dry area and reduce debris or clutter that can provide shelter for rodents and other tick hosts.
6. Let more sun reach damp edges.Prune shrubs and low branches where practical to let in more sunlight; Massachusetts and CDC guidance note that ticks are less likely to persist in brighter, drier areas.

Add personal protection every time exposure is likely.

If you find an attached tick.

Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure. Clean the bite area and your hands afterward. Avoid folk remedies intended to make the tick detach on its own.