Warning: Ticks may be hazardous to your health. They are carriers of diseases, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Fortunately, most tick bites do not result in illness [source: Miller Enviro-Care].
Ticks don't usually enter the house of their own accord. Rather, they're carried in by pets. Some of them fall off the pets and find a place to lay their eggs.
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Here's how to make your house tick-free:
- Remove any ticks from your pet.
- Vacuum the areas your pet spends time in. Pay close attention to the area where your pet sleeps. Vacuuming is a good way to get rid of ticks and eggs [source: Lakewood Animal Hospital].
- Spray insecticide along all baseboards, furniture, flooring under the furniture and along walls. Use a water-safe insecticide if possible, to prevent damage to household surfaces. Give special attention to places where your pet often goes.
- Sprinkle an insecticide dust around and beneath your pet's bed, in cracks and crevices, behind baseboards and door moldings, along carpet edges and beneath rugs. Repeat the procedure two or three times if you find more ticks a few days after using insecticide. Ticks can go without eating for long periods, so they may not come in contact with the sprayed or dusted area before the insecticide wears off.
- Spray a good outdoor insecticide on grass, shrubs and crawl spaces under the house. Spray shrubs from the ground up to 2 to 3 feet (61 to 91.4 centimeters) high.
- Mow the lawn and remove weeds in any empty lot that you and your pet frequent, or where other animals and birds can come into contact with your family and pet [source: Illinois].
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