Ticks are primarily found outdoors, but they can unexpectedly enter homes. These small arachnids pose risks to both human and animal residents. Understanding how ticks get inside, where they hide, and how long they survive indoors is helpful for managing their presence.
How Ticks Come Inside
Pets are a common way ticks enter homes, often picking up these parasites on their fur after spending time outdoors. Ticks can then detach from the pet once inside, potentially seeking new hosts. People also inadvertently bring ticks indoors on their clothing, bags, or even directly on their skin after outdoor activities like hiking or gardening.
Wild animals like rodents, squirrels, or raccoons can also carry ticks into spaces like attics, basements, or garages. Even a single mouse might carry numerous ticks, which could then transfer to pets or people. Furthermore, items brought inside from outdoors, including firewood, plants, or outdoor gear, can harbor ticks.
Some tick species, like the American dog tick, are attracted to the heat and carbon dioxide from houses. They may crawl up exterior walls and screened windows, especially in spring when seeking hosts. Understanding these entry methods helps prevent ticks from establishing themselves indoors.
Tick Survival and Hiding Indoors
Once inside a home, most tick species, except the brown dog tick, struggle to survive for extended periods. The typical indoor environment, characterized by low humidity, is not conducive to their long-term survival. Blacklegged ticks, for instance, usually do not survive more than a day indoors unless they encounter a moist area.
American dog ticks and lone star ticks might persist for a few days, but typically not long enough to feed again before succumbing to dry conditions. In contrast, the brown dog tick is uniquely adapted to indoor living and can complete its entire life cycle within a house, often preferring dogs as its host. Ticks thrive in humid conditions, so damp locations like a laundry hamper with moist clothing or a humid basement can extend their survival for several days to a few weeks.
Should ticks find their way into a home, they often seek concealed, comfortable spots. Common hiding places include soft furnishings like carpets, rugs, and upholstered furniture. Pet bedding and other areas where pets rest are also favored spots, as ticks may drop off their animal hosts there. Additionally, ticks might hide in cracks and crevices along baseboards, around window and door frames, behind curtains, or within piles of laundry.
What to Do if You Find a Tick
Finding a tick on yourself, a pet, or simply crawling indoors requires prompt action. If a tick is attached to skin, remove it using fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure, avoiding any twisting or jerking motions. This technique helps ensure the tick’s mouthparts do not break off.
After removal, it is important to dispose of the tick safely. Options include placing it in a sealed container, wrapping it tightly in tape, flushing it down the toilet, or submerging it in rubbing alcohol. Crushing the tick with your fingers should be avoided. Once the tick is removed, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with soap and water or rubbing alcohol to minimize the risk of infection.
It is advisable to monitor the bite area and your overall health for several weeks following a tick bite. Watch for symptoms such as a rash, fever, fatigue, or muscle aches, which could indicate a tick-borne illness. If a tick is found crawling but not attached, it can be vacuumed up or flushed away.
Keeping Ticks Out of Your Home
Preventing ticks from entering your home involves pet care, personal habits, and home maintenance. Regularly checking pets for ticks after they have been outdoors, and using veterinarian-recommended prevention products, helps intercept ticks before they are carried inside.
After spending time in wooded or grassy areas, check your clothing and body thoroughly. Taking a shower within a few hours of coming indoors can help wash off any unattached ticks. Placing clothes worn outdoors directly into a dryer on high heat for at least ten minutes can effectively kill any clinging ticks.
Maintaining your yard can reduce the likelihood of ticks venturing near your home. Keeping lawns mowed, clearing leaf litter, and creating a barrier of wood chips or gravel between wooded areas and your yard can deter ticks. Sealing cracks or crevices in your home’s foundation and ensuring window and door screens are intact helps eliminate potential entry points. Additionally, inspect items like firewood or outdoor furniture before bringing them inside to avoid transporting ticks.