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Top 3 Home Remedies to Keep Ticks Away
Your backyard isn’t the only place you’re likely to catch ticks, and chickens can’t pluck out each tick. This calls for something that will keep the ticks off you. Yes, we are indeed talking about a natural tick repellent.
A few ticks caught in a plastic bag (Photo: Rest Easy Pest Control)
Ticks are everybody’s nightmare! They’re itchy, carry diseases like Lyme disease, Powassan virus, and Rocky Mountain fever. They suck the joy out of your life.
What’s worse is that they’re tiny, and they can hide away in places with high moisture levels. So it’s all the more difficult just to get rid of them on the spot. However, if you can’t entirely exterminate them, you can always use tick repellents to keep them off you.
Before we stir up some repellents, it’s important to have a sound understanding of their habitat. This way you can be prepared in advance if you decide to venture into those grounds.
Ticks in Hiding
As we mentioned earlier, ticks prefer areas with high moisture levels, beyond the reach of sunlight. The most obvious place to come to mind that fits this description is a wooded area. Somewhere shrouded in trees, shrubs, tall grass or even just your backyard.
So is there anything in particular that attracts ticks or do they just crawl over you just for fun? It may be surprising, but certain factors indeed lure ticks to you! Many have hypothesized that ticks tend to pick up on a particular kind of scent that lures them in. Your gender, age and certain times in a period cycle are some of the other factors to lure in ticks.
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If someone sweats a lot or breathes heavily, they’re more likely to invite ticks.
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Hungry Ticks
Ticks are known to be ‘patient’ parasites as they’re willing to wait for a long period of time before drinking blood from their hosts. They can survive more than 30 weeks without a meal due to their slow metabolism. But, you certainly don’t want to deal with hungry ticks. Like other animals, if it’s time for them to feed, they’ll undoubtedly go beyond their regular questing behavior.
Biologists at the University of Cincinnati said, ‘the hungrier ticks are, the harder they try to find you or other hosts.’ Hungry ticks tend to drink more blood and are attached to their hosts longer, hence, increases the possibility to get infected by tick-borne illnesses. Scientists also found that hungry ticks would have higher activity levels than just-fed ticks, as they’re more likely to jump with the claws on their forelegs to catch on their victims before digging into their hosts with their mouthparts.
Time for DIY Insect Repellents
One way to keep the ticks at bay is to sprinkle some cedar woodchips in your backyard. Another way to ward them away is to keep chickens in your backyard who will readily eat them on sight.
However, your backyard isn’t the only place you’re likely to catch ticks, and chickens can’t pluck out each tick. This calls for something that will keep the ticks off you. Yes, we are indeed talking about a natural tick repellent!
Generally, the key ingredient for tick repellent is essential oils. Specifically, geranium oil, cedarwood oil, and garlic oil. Now you can’t use these oils in isolation since you need a carrier to mix it with. This could be water, oil itself or even lotion. Each of them has pros and cons, so let’s delve into each one.
Watch Video: Top 3 Home Remedies to Get Rid of Ticks
#1. Water-based Repellent
While this repellent can safely be sprayed over clothes and skin alike, more application is required since it doesn’t last as long as an oil-based repellent.
Ingredients:
- A 4-ounce spray bottle
- Distilled water (3 ounces)
- Grain/Rubbing alcohol (1 ounce)
- Geranium oil (30 drops)
- Cedarwood oil (30 drops)
- Garlic oil (10 drops) (optional)
Instructions:
- Fill the bottle with the alcohol. (Note: this is to ease the oils in mixing with water.)
- Add in the above-listed essential oils. (Note: Garlic oil has a powerful scent, so if your repellent is intended for kids, don’t use it. Even if it’s not, you’re free to skip it since the integral components are geranium and cedarwood oils.)
- Cap the bottle, and shake it well.
- Fill it with water.
- Cap the bottle, and shake it well.
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Related Article: Tick Diseases: 10 Fatal Diseases Caused by Ticks
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#2. Oil-based Repellent
Unlike the water-based repellent, this doesn’t require more applications since it’s likely to last longer. However, applying it to clothes or skin can make them oily.
Ingredients:
- A spray bottle/oil mister
- Non-greasy Liquid oil, e.g., olive oil, jojoba (2 ounces)
- Geranium oil (30 drops)
Instructions:
- Pour the non-greasy liquid oil into the bottle.
- Add geranium oil to the other oil inside the bottle.
- Stir the mixture well and keep away from sunlight.
#3. Lotion-based Repellent
As a medium repellent between the two extremes discussed above, lotion-based repellents are less oily and also tend to last longer. However, applying them is not an easy job.
Ingredients:
- A spray bottle/oil mister
- Natural lotion (2 ounces)
- Geranium oil (30 drops)
Instructions:
- Add the lotion to the bottle.
- Add geranium oil to the lotion inside the bottle.
- Stir the mixture well and keep away from sunlight.
Tick Repellent in Action
Use any of the remedies above to make yourself a tick repellent which you can conveniently spray over yourself or your shoes and clothes.
These repellents are not only safe to be used by humans, but they’re also guaranteed to repel any ticks that might have come your way.
So the next time you’re headed out somewhere the ticks might be lurking about, spray yourself or your clothes with a homemade tick repellent and venture in peace.***
Last updated on December 27, 2018.
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