Pest Control Business Owner Urges Residents to be on "High Alert" During Tick Season

WEYMOUTH, Mass. - April 5, 2024 - PRLog -- Jodi Elliott, owner of Mosquito Joe of Braintree-Weymouth (https://braintree-weymouth.mosquitojoe.com/), is urging area residents to be extremely vigilant with regard to the anticipated tick presence this season, while offering a few tips to lessen the likelihood of tick bites.

"After two relatively mild winters, the ticks will be back with a vengeance in 2024," Elliott says, also noting that it's not uncommon with milder winters to have tick presence even in the winter months. She references a Commonwealth of Massachusetts (https://www.mass.gov/lists/monthly-tick-borne-disease-reports) report citing two peaks of tick activity: the first beginning in March or April and lasting through August, and the second occurring in October and November, with the majority of cases of tick-borne disease taking places from June through August.

Even in the so-called "off season" for ticks, activity continues and certain tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi and Powassan virus can occur all year round in the region. Tick-borne diseases are seen most frequently in children and older adults.

Elliott says that the best protection includes understanding the importance of knowing "what makes ticks tick" in order to combat them. Ticks typically thrive in damp wooded areas where tall grass, shrubs, and trees grow unchecked. She adds that they are attracted to the edges where woods meet lawns, and at the border of where untamed land meets residential development. "Ticks hide in leaf litter, ground-covering plants, and wood piles where small mammals might live."

Ticks will climb grass stems and shrubs to the height of their preferred hosts. Then, they reach out with their front legs, waiting to attach to a passing animal. This hunting behavior, she notes, is called "questing." Questing ticks hunt for hosts by seeking body heat, carbon dioxide, and the smell of lactic acid in human and animal sweat.

Because ticks need a water source, they thrive where humidity is high and soil is damp. They are highly susceptible to drying out.

About Mosquito Joe of Braintree-Weymouth

Mosquito Joe of Braintree-Weymouth is an experienced outdoor pest control service. The woman-owned enterprise serving Norfolk and Suffolk Counties, including Weymouth, Braintree, Milton, Quincy, Randolph, Holbrook, Avon, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park.  Owner Jodi Elliott, a resident of Hull, MA, launched the company in 2018 following her daughter Ash's three-year battle with Lyme's Disease and wanting to help prevent others from contracting tick-borne illnesses. For an assessment of your pest control needs, please contact Braintree-weymouth@mosquitojoe.com or call 781-848-6212.