Tick exterminators inspect a property for the places ticks live, identify the species, treat targeted areas such as shady yard edges and leaf-covered beds, and recommend habitat changes that make the yard less suitable for ticks. Treatment can reduce ticks in treated areas, but CDC advises against relying on spraying alone to lower your risk of infection, so pair it with repellents and tick checks. Saela Pest Control is a residential and commercial pest control company that provides the best tick control for homes and businesses, with protocols developed by Board Certified Entomologist Dennis Weiss. This guide covers DIY steps, professional methods and how Saela’s tick control works.
Understanding the Tick Threat
Why Are Ticks a Health Concern?
Ticks feed on blood, and some carry bacteria, viruses and parasites that make people and pets sick. CDC’s overview of tickborne disease names 16 in the United States, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis and alpha-gal syndrome, and it estimates that 476,000 Lyme disease infections are diagnosed and treated each year.
A bite is easy to miss. According to CDC, a tick can take 10 minutes to 2 hours to prepare to feed, and its saliva can numb the skin so you don’t feel it attach, which is why daily tick checks matter as much as yard treatment.
Which Ticks Are Common Around Homes?
Which ticks you meet depends on where you live. CDC’s guide to where ticks live maps each disease-carrying species and notes that a tick’s presence in a region doesn’t necessarily mean it spreads a given disease there. Four species are especially familiar around homes:
- Blacklegged (deer) tick (Ixodes scapularis): Widespread in the eastern United States; spreads Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus disease.
- American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis): Widespread east of the Rocky Mountains; spreads tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, with bite risk highest in spring and summer.
- Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum): Found across the Northeast, South and Midwest; spreads ehrlichiosis and tularemia, and its bite may trigger alpha-gal syndrome, a red meat allergy.
- Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus): Found worldwide; dogs are its main host, it can infest homes and kennels, and it spreads Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the southwestern United States.
In the West, CDC also lists the Rocky Mountain wood tick and, along the Pacific coast, the western blacklegged tick. Habitat and disease risk differ by species, so start with how to identify ticks and when to call a tick control service.
How the Tick Life Cycle Shapes Control
Most ticks go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph and adult. CDC’s tick lifecycle page explains that after hatching, ticks need a blood meal at every stage, usually pick up pathogens as larvae or nymphs, and pass them on later as nymphs or adults.
Most species need a new host at each stage, from mice, chipmunks and birds to deer, dogs and people. CDC says these ticks can take up to 3 years to complete their life cycle, while the brown dog tick prefers one host throughout.
Ticks can’t fly or jump. They wait on grass tips and shrubs with their front legs outstretched, a behavior called questing, and sense breath, odor, heat and vibration from passing hosts. Because they choose spots along well-used paths, yard edges and animal trails deserve the most attention.
Signs of a Tick Infestation
How to Tell if Ticks Are in Your Yard
The clearest sign is finding ticks on people or pets after time in your own yard, especially if it keeps happening after time in the same area. Ticks don’t form colonies the way ants do, so you usually notice them on a host first, and CDC notes that many people with Lyme disease were exposed in their own yards or neighborhoods.
Cornell’s integrated pest management program suggests a tick drag to check an area: pull a square yard of flannel or corduroy behind you, then look for ticks that grabbed on. Repeat it on different days and in different spots.
A clean drag doesn’t prove a yard is tick-free; Cornell notes that drags pick up roughly 10 to 15 percent of the ticks present. Leaf litter, tall grass, woodpiles, wooded edges and frequent visits from deer or rodents all raise the odds.
Health Signs That Can Point to Tick Bites
Sometimes the first sign of ticks is an illness, because many bites go unnoticed. CDC advises seeing a healthcare provider if you develop the symptoms below within a few weeks of a tick bite, and it notes that many tickborne diseases share similar signs. Watch for:
- Fever or chills, which all tickborne diseases can cause
- Headache, fatigue and muscle aches, plus joint pain in some people with Lyme disease
- A rash, which can be distinctive in Lyme disease, southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis and tularemia
- In pets, changes in behavior or appetite, which CDC says may not appear for 7 to 21 days or longer after a bite
Daily checks catch ticks early. CDC recommends checking under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, in the hair, between the legs and around the waist, and notes that showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce the risk of Lyme disease.
When to Call a Tick Exterminator
Call a professional when ticks keep turning up after you’ve cleaned up the yard, or when your property borders woods, fields or brush with regular wildlife traffic. For perimeter treatments, the University of Rhode Island’s TickEncounter Resource Center highly recommends a licensed pest control applicator trained to kill ticks in the environment.
Households where children play near the yard’s edge or someone has had a tickborne illness may want to act sooner. Treatment lowers tick numbers where your family spends time, but it doesn’t replace repellents or tick checks.
Start with an inspection: every Saela plan includes a 50+ point property inspection covering nesting sites and outdoor structures. Ask whether ticks are covered in the plan you’re considering.
DIY Tick Control Methods
Yard Maintenance That Reduces Ticks
The most useful DIY step is making the lawn and the areas people use less hospitable to ticks. CDC’s tick prevention guidance recommends removing leaf litter, clearing tall grass and brush, mowing often, and placing a 3-foot-wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas.
CDC also suggests stacking wood neatly in a dry area, removing old furniture and trash where ticks can hide, and keeping play equipment, decks and patios away from yard edges and trees.
Trim branches and shrubs to let in sunlight, because ticks are less likely to be found in bright, sunny areas. Cornell notes that habitat management works best against blacklegged ticks and may be less effective against lone star ticks.
Natural and Low-Chemical Options
The lowest-chemical option is habitat change plus personal protection. CDC recommends EPA-registered repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD) or 2-undecanone, and EPA’s repellent search tool filters by ticks, protection time and active ingredient. Keep in mind:
- CDC says not to use OLE or PMD products on children under 3 years old
- Clothing and gear treated with 0.5% permethrin stay protective through several washings, according to CDC
- EPA’s tool lists only registered skin-applied repellents, so check any “natural” spray for an EPA registration number
Cedar mulch, garlic sprays and plants such as lavender or rosemary aren’t among CDC’s tick prevention steps, so treat them as extras rather than protection.
Limitations of DIY Methods
DIY work reduces tick habitat but can’t reach every tick or remove the risk. CDC says pesticides can reduce ticks in treated areas of a yard, but you shouldn’t rely on spraying to lower your risk of infection, and no single DIY step does that either. The main limits:
Ticks shelter in leaf litter and shady edges that are hard to cover evenly, and people pick up ticks away from home too. Cornell cites a 2016 study in which pesticide sprays on residential properties did not reduce homeowners’ exposure to tickborne disease.
Yard products must be applied exactly as the label directs, and products for people, pets and yards aren’t interchangeable. On wooded or repeat-problem properties, a professional can target the right areas and timing.
Professional Tick Extermination Services
What a Professional Tick Exterminator Does
A professional tick exterminator inspects the property, finds where ticks are likely to be questing, treats those areas and recommends habitat changes that slow their return. Saela approaches this through an integrated pest management cycle of pest identification, activity monitoring, targeted treatment and evaluation, with adjustments based on the results.
The inspection looks for shade, moisture, leaf litter, brush, woodpiles and wildlife paths, especially where lawn meets woods, and notes where your family and pets spend time.
A good provider also suggests changes to mowing, leaf removal, borders and wildlife attractants, because treatment and household habits work best together.
Treatment Methods Used by Professionals
Most professional tick control is a targeted perimeter treatment, not a whole-yard spray. The University of Rhode Island’s guidance on perimeter treatments calls applications to the yard perimeter, shady perennial beds and trail edges the single most effective way to reduce blacklegged ticks in a yard, and notes that open, sunny lawns usually don’t need treatment.
Treatments can be liquid or granular. URI suggests asking where the product will go: blacklegged tick nymphs need very high humidity and stay in shady, leafy areas, while lone star and American dog ticks may call for treating further into the yard.
Some programs also target the animals that carry ticks. Cornell’s tick management FAQ describes bait boxes that treat mice and chipmunks as they feed, and 4-Poster devices that treat deer, which tend to be too expensive for many communities.
Cost and Treatment Frequency
The cost of professional tick control depends on the property and the plan, so there’s no single price. Saela quotes pest control based on pest type, location, property size, visit frequency and treatment products, and its pricing page explains how plans are set up.
Treatment frequency follows the tick season where you live. For the Northeast and upper Midwest, URI recommends two applications, in mid-May and mid-June, with a possible fall application after adult blacklegged ticks emerge, typically in mid-October.
Compare what’s included before signing up, including which pests are covered and how return visits work.
Integrated Tick Management Approach
Combining Professional and DIY Methods
The most effective plan layers professional treatment, yard upkeep and personal protection, because each covers a gap the others leave. Treatment lowers tick numbers in treated areas, habitat changes make those areas less suitable over time, and repellents, tick checks and showers protect people wherever they pick up ticks.
Divide the work: the provider handles inspection, targeted treatment and follow-up, while the household mows, clears leaf litter and checks people and pets. For more options, see this overview of tick pest control in 2025.
Note where and when ticks turn up, and share it with your technician so the plan can be adjusted.
Managing Wildlife That Carries Ticks
Wildlife carries ticks into yards, so making the property less attractive to animals reduces how many ticks arrive. Cornell notes that tick hosts range from mice, chipmunks and birds to deer, and that ticks drop off after feeding wherever those animals roam. CDC suggests fences to keep out deer, raccoons and stray dogs.
Keep bird feeders, garbage cans and firewood away from the house, advice Cornell bases on tick biology rather than research. Deer fencing may reduce ticks, but it doesn’t keep out the small mammals that carry them.
Tick tubes, cardboard tubes of permethrin-treated cotton that mice use for nesting, have shown inconsistent results, and Cornell notes that making your own is illegal because the label doesn’t allow it. Cornell also notes that tick management often depends on homeowners.
Tick Control Through the Year
Tick exposure can happen year-round, but CDC says ticks are most active during warmer months, from April through September. Plan yard work, treatments and personal protection around the seasons below, and adjust the timing to your region, since tick activity varies by species and climate:
- Spring (March to May): Clear leaf litter, start mowing and set borders. CDC says American dog tick bite risk is highest in spring and summer, and URI times a first perimeter treatment for mid-May in the Northeast and upper Midwest.
- Summer (June to August): CDC says most Lyme disease cases are reported in summer. Check people and pets daily; URI’s schedule adds a second treatment in mid-June.
- Fall (September to November): URI suggests a possible treatment after adult blacklegged ticks emerge, typically in mid-October. Keep removing leaf litter.
- Winter (December to February): Blacklegged ticks can bite whenever winter temperatures are above freezing, according to CDC. Trim branches for sunlight and plan next year’s service.
Ask your provider to time visits to local tick activity, since seasons vary by region and species.
Special Considerations for Families
Protecting Children and Pets
Children and pets spend time in grass and along yard edges where ticks wait, and they may not notice a tick. Check children daily using the body areas CDC lists, and check pets that go outdoors every day, since pets can carry ticks inside, where the ticks may later bite people.
Ask your veterinarian about a tick preventive for your dog. CDC warns that cats are extremely sensitive to many chemicals, so never use a tick product on a cat without your veterinarian’s advice.
Follow repellent labels on children, skip OLE and PMD products for children under 3, and dress kids in long sleeves and pants for play near brush.
Using Tick Control Products Safely
Read and follow the label every time; it is the legal instruction for how and where a product can be used. Before applying a pesticide outdoors, CDC recommends asking local health or agricultural officials about the best time to apply, the best type of product and local rules for residential application.
Keep children and pets off treated areas as long as the label directs, store products in their original containers out of reach, and never mix products.
Ask a professional which product they’ll use, where, and with what re-entry instructions. URI notes that pyrethroid products shouldn’t be applied around ponds or streams with fish, so point out any water features.
Creating Tick-Safe Outdoor Living Spaces
A tick-safe zone is an open, sunny area for family activities, set apart from wooded and brushy edges. Cornell’s guidance on limiting ticks in your yard recommends pruning overhanging branches, mowing to about three inches, limiting groundcover, and keeping swing sets and other attractions away from the woods’ edge.
Cornell notes that a three-foot mulch or stone border mainly teaches children where not to go; it isn’t designed to kill ticks.
Put decks, patios and play equipment in sunny, dry spots, and keep clear paths so people don’t brush against tall grass.
Tick-Borne Disease Prevention
Symptoms of Common Tick-Borne Illnesses
Most tickborne diseases start with similar symptoms: fever or chills, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, sometimes with a rash. According to CDC, a healthcare provider will weigh your symptoms, where you were bitten and, depending on both, lab tests before deciding on treatment. A few illnesses have more specific signs.
Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, STARI and tularemia can cause distinctive rashes. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is spread by different ticks in different regions, so tell your doctor where you were bitten.
Alpha-gal syndrome can follow certain tick bites and cause hives, nausea, stomach pain, breathing problems and swelling; red meat, dairy and some medicines contain alpha-gal. Tick paralysis causes weakness that moves up the body, and CDC says patients typically regain movement within 24 hours of the tick being removed.
Symptoms can appear days to weeks after a bite, so mention possible tick exposure to your provider even if you never saw a tick.
How to Remove a Tick
Remove an attached tick as soon as possible; CDC says not to wait to see a healthcare provider, because delaying removal could increase your risk of disease. A plain set of tweezers works very well. CDC’s tick removal steps are:
- Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible with clean, fine-tipped tweezers, without squeezing its body
- Pull it away with steady, even pressure; don’t twist or jerk, which can leave mouthparts in the skin
- Clean the bite and your hands with soap and water, rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer
- Dispose of the live tick in a sealed container, wrapped tightly in tape, flushed down the toilet or placed in alcohol
Don’t crush a tick with your fingers or use petroleum jelly, heat or nail polish, which can force infected fluid into the skin. CDC also generally doesn’t recommend commercial tick testing, because a positive result doesn’t necessarily mean infection and a negative one can give false assurance.
When to Seek Medical Attention
See a doctor if you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick. CDC recommends telling the doctor about the bite, when it happened and where you most likely picked up the tick, because the region you were bitten in helps guide testing and treatment.
Note the date, the place and when symptoms began; CDC’s online Tick Bite Guide can help you decide when to seek care.
In certain circumstances, a preventive antibiotic prescribed after a tick bite where Lyme disease is common may lower your risk, according to CDC’s Lyme disease prevention guidance. Ask your healthcare provider whether that’s appropriate for you.
Environmental Impact of Tick Control
Lower-Impact Tick Management
The lowest-impact tick control treats only where ticks live and relies on habitat changes for the rest. URI notes that perimeter treatments limit the amount of pesticide applied by targeting the areas where people most often contact deer ticks, and that open or sunny lawns usually don’t need treatment.
Removing leaf litter, letting in sunlight and keeping borders between lawn and woods reduce tick habitat with no product at all.
Ask providers how they decide where to treat and which products they use; clear answers suggest targeted work rather than blanket spraying.
Protecting Beneficial Insects and Pollinators
Targeted treatment also protects pollinators and other beneficial insects, because fewer treated areas means fewer insects exposed. URI notes that blacklegged tick nymphs are typically found in shady, leaf-covered areas, so sunny flower beds and open lawns can often be left out of a tick treatment entirely.
Ask your provider to avoid flowering plants and follow any label directions for pollinators, and point out gardens, beehives and water.
A sunny pollinator garden away from the woods’ edge can stay untreated, since ticks are less likely to be found there anyway.
Sustainable Long-Term Approaches
Long-term tick management relies on lasting changes to habitat and habits rather than repeated treatments alone. Sunny activity areas, maintained borders, fewer wildlife attractants and routine tick checks keep working between visits, while treatments lower tick numbers where pressure is highest.
Cornell reports that large projects are testing whether neighborhood-wide tick control can reduce tickborne disease, partly because one study found that treating individual yards did not reduce exposure.
Meanwhile, keep the yard less hospitable, protect people and pets directly, and use professional treatment where tick pressure is high, such as through Saela’s tick control service.
Why Hire Saela Pest Control for Tick Extermination?
Expertise in Tick Biology and Control
Tick control depends on identifying the species and understanding where it shelters, and Saela’s protocols are developed by an entomologist. Dennis Weiss, Saela’s entomologist, develops the company’s pest-control protocols, trains its technicians and conducts service-quality audits, and he holds the Entomological Society of America’s Board Certified Entomologist credential.
Species matters: blacklegged ticks in leaf litter call for a different plan than brown dog ticks indoors around a dog’s bed. Saela is also a National Pest Management Association member with Associate Certified Entomologists on staff, as noted on its Why Saela page.
Whichever company you choose, ask who trains its technicians and how they identify the ticks on your property.
How Saela Approaches Tick Treatment
Saela’s service starts with an inspection and follows an integrated pest management cycle. Every Saela plan includes a 50+ point property inspection covering nesting sites and outdoor structures, and identifying the pest is the first step in its IPM cycle.
The cycle then moves through activity monitoring, targeted treatment and evaluation.
Plan scope varies: Saela’s Protection Program includes interior and exterior treatments with every-other-month or quarterly visits, and covered pests depend on the plan, so check that ticks are included.
What to Expect From Ongoing Service
Ongoing tick control works best with a provider who shows up on schedule and explains what was done. In a February 2024 Google review on Saela’s reviews page, Mark Lovgren wrote, “They showed up when they said they would. They explained everything they were doing and why and were very polite.”
Saela offers no-charge return visits for covered pests between scheduled services while a plan is active. If ticks are covered and keep appearing, ask for a return visit.
Before each treatment, ask what will be applied, where, and how long to stay off treated areas.
Is Professional Tick Control Worth It?
Professional tick control is worth it when ticks keep appearing despite good yard upkeep, or when your property borders woods, brush or fields with regular wildlife traffic. It lowers tick numbers in treated areas but doesn’t replace repellents and tick checks, because CDC calls reducing exposure to ticks the best defense against tickborne diseases.
No single step removes every tick, but treatment, yard changes and personal protection together lower the chance of a bite.
To compare options, review plan details and covered pests on Saela’s pricing page, and ask whether ticks are included before you sign up.
If you’re finding ticks in your yard, book a call with Saela to talk through an inspection and plan options for your property. Saela’s Lakewood, Washington location is rated 4.8 out of 5 from 1,164 reviews on Google as of October 2026.
Who wrote this article?
Devin Hutchings (Marketing Director at Saela Pest Control) wrote this article.
Devin leads Saela’s marketing and growth strategy. He brings more than 15 years of marketing experience across Uber, C.R. England, Lugg, and Neighbor. His background spans customer acquisition, retention, and developing marketing channels for service businesses and consumer marketplaces.
