Yes! The last two years have been awful. I probably remove around 3-4 ticks a week. I can even get them just walking down the sidewalk to get in the car.

It has been really bad this year, and last, as spazzy noted. I ran across ads for something called damminix this year and am going to make something like it here (it's kind of expensive to buy, i think). Lots of info on their site. It's essentially cotton balls soaked in permethrin, placed in cardboard tubes. Field mice, which are the vectors for lyme disease(deer do have the ticks, but don't carry lyme), use the cotton balls in their nests and get the oil on their coats. The ticks die when they try to attach. It doesn't hurt mammals, but is very toxic to most insects, esp bees, and all aquatic life. So you have to be careful placing the tubes. It seems like a fairly easy and harmless way to cut back in the tick population dramatically. We have both dog and deer ticks, and i don't think this will help with the dog ticks. But at least they are big enough to feel when they're on you and i hardly ever get bitten by them.

Here is a link that might be useful: damminix tubes

If I had 5 acres and ticks, I'd be sure to have a flock of guinea hens. Tick eating is their specialty I hear.

I am trying to find some but for some reason in the RDU area I can not find ANYONE selling babies. Ideas?

Msjay - my son just got guinea hen babies two weeks ago at Town & Country Feed Store, Bickett Blvd. (Rte 401) in Louisburg. He says they didn't have any left last week, but they will order them for you. Give 'em a call, or stop by if you're in that part of the country!

Any ground dwelling game bird eats ticks though Guineas seem to get the most press. They are no better at it than chickens or ducks. Guineas are a lot noisier than chickens which in turn are noisier than ducks, all are messy yard birds. Guineas also have a strange social system where they murder any flock member that gets injured, mobbing it and pecking its head open - way too gross for me.

Fire ants also remove ticks from their area as will the large colony making Harvester Ants (the red ones that strip an area clean, exposing the dirt around the mound).

So..in the cities and burbs where 'fowl' aren't allowed..just get yourself several mounds of fire ants and the tick problem is solved..
Yikes!

Isn't NATURE beautiful!

The ticks in my area are horrible this year. I am having the same problem, can get them just walking to the car. I have been trimming any weedy areas. Not sure if that will help. Seems the poison ivy is as prolific as the ticks this year, too.

Jeanne

I've found five or six crawling on myself just today. I don't think a day has gone by this spring that I didn't find at least one.

Oops - just found another one - no joke - while I was typing.

Speaking of fire ants, there was blurb in the paper how Texas is testing out several varieties of phorid flies that deposit their eggs on fire ants heads, the larva get into the head, eat the brain (that ought to be filling) and the ant walks around like a zombie for a couple weeks before its head falls off.
Now suppose in a couple of years, the ants say,"Now wait a minute..you see that two legged thing over there with the big head? You go as a group (of a thousand phorid flies) and plant your eggs on that thing..there's enough brain there to feed a thousand of your younguns"
Don't mess with Mother Nature!!!

LOL, Dottie - same blurb was in our paper today, and I did wonder if the phorid flies solution might turn out to be something like the kudzu solution of decades gone past.

I agree, don't mess with Mother Nature!

Wonder if Basil has had the same tick problem? He must be immediately aware where there's a tick on him (walking around gardening in the nude as he does).

Now I know why I don't have a tick problem even though we have three acres of forest! The red ants. We have plenty of those. And now, thanks to John, I know they're the Harvester Ants because I do have mounds like he described.

I was always taught harvester ants are usually black. We have scads of the black ones who make low bare patches in back, and so far haven't had but 1 nest of fire ants back there. The front, where the harvesters aren't, has a few nests of fire ants, starting last year. My tick issues are higher this year, after we've had fire ants, so i don't think they help much unless they are numerous. personally, i think i'd rather deal with a month of ticks than 4 seasons of dodging fire ants!

Supposedly, they are very carefully evaluating the phorids, knowing what can happen with a predator that has no predators. Same with the wooly adelgid solution (seems like it's a beetle, maybe). They are also working on a caterpillar that eats only kudzu and can't form into a moth to breed, here at sate, i believe i read a few years back. I think they have learned from past mistakes and are trying to prevent more. Of course, mamma nature has a way of fooling with us when we tinker with her!

Dottie, you're funny! I don't know, though- he'd feel the big guys, but those little ones, if it wasn't where he could see it, could just as easily crawl around and he not notice. I rarely feel them, even on bare skin. I usually notice one of my freckles is crawling or find it after it's dug in.

I am a new subscriber so I thought I would jump right in, I have 2 dogs 4 cats they all go outide in a fenced 1 acre yard, I very seldom have ticks or fleas and what I do is use dishsoap on my lawn. Cheapest you can find although it is nice to be eco friendly and either put in sprayer or just squirt on lawn every 10 feet. No harm to beneficial but keeps ticks off the area I am in. I also clean my lawn occastionally with cheap mouthwash and soap mixed in a sprayer (ie, Jerry Baker the gardening guys advice) it all seems to work. Good luck

Hey Cia (fer short). Welcome! What part of the Carolinas do you live in?
I have a Jerry Baker book but when I have a problem I have another problem..
I can't find the Jerry Baker book !!?? Go figure..

I don't have a problem with them out in my garden, but if I walk into our woods, I could easily come out with 30+. I just stay out of the woods for this reason.

In my garden, I grow a lot of plants in the herb family -- agastache, monarda, nepeta, lavender, basil, thyme, etc. I don't know if that is what's helping or not. My garden is in full sun without trees and high grass.

Cameron

Interesting thing about the fire ants... we've got tons of them but I've never seen a tick on me or any of our dogs, even though we live on 3.5 acres of forest. Does that mean I have to hate the suckers (the ants, not the ticks) less??

LOL you guys are funny!!

I think I found some Guineas in Henderson. I can not figure out why it is so hard to find anything around here.

I have chickens and while they probably would eradicate the property of ticks I am less prone to let them free range all over the property. I get good eggs from my chickens so I keep them in their coop or in their fenced area as eggs are more impotant to me. That is their job...to lay eggs. The Guineas on the other hand I plan to let have rights all over the place.

As for the ants. I have sprinkled diatomaceous earth all over the place and this year I have not seen many ants at all.
Things I hate:
ants
ticks
mosquitoes
snakes
The mosquitoes were bad last year but not so far this year. Its coming though I know it. Snakes are bad on my property this year too. That's nothing that a hoe can't take of though. LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: my place

On our last stop on the farm tour today, there was a flock of Guinea hens wandering about .... we'd read that they are quite vocal, but this was our first auditory exposure. (Son and his wife have four chicks -as I've mentioned - they're still babies - sooooo cute!)

Seeing the adults was great (they are very pretty), but seeing the look on my DIL's face when she heard their vocalization was ...... priceless!

These birds are .... ummm.... loud! Hopefully they're not nocturnal loud!

Do the guineas roost up in the trees at night?

Dottie, I do think I read of that ..... will let you know once the chicks get put out into the coop. This might be verrrry interesting.....

Google is a wonderful source of info on guinea hens.

Yep, I'll be sure to tell the chicks that! (Just messin' with you, Dottie!) :o)

We have found a number of good sites dedicated to the guineas - it was the up close and personal exposure yesterday that was worth more than a few webpages! Son and his wife are vying for a place on the next farm tour, I fear.

Besides the four guinea chicks, they have two tiny turkey chicks - all currently housed in crates in their spare bedroom! The outside flock numbers about 20 egg layers and two roosters (who are forbidden to play w/the chickens!). Such fun!

Thanks all of you who responded. What a choice....fire ants or ticks?? Have to think about which I want less. LOL
Anyway, Dottie, I have thought of chickens but what I know about chickens could fill a thimble. Know they need a place to live, food, water, protection from predators, and they might give you eggs if all goes well. BUT, I want to learn and am having a hard time finding a local person who keeps chickens in their yard to see first hand what I need. Google does supply a lot of info but I think I need to see first hand. Also, if it doesn't work out, I would have someplace to return the chickens. I don't think having them for dinner would be up my alley. :) Anyway, will look into the dishsoap spray and DE in the mean time.
If there is a club,group, or organization of "Backyard Chicken Farmers" in the upstate area, I would appreciate the info.
Thanks and keep checking for those ticks!!
Murphy

Not sure where you are, Murphy (?'upstate'?), but there are lots of backyard chicken farmers in Raleigh. Here's a link to an article about last year's Tour d'Coop http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/henside-the-beltline-tour-dcoop-2008/ with a slideshow.

This year's (third annual) was just the past Saturday, no pics of that online yet, but if you type Tour d'Coop Raleigh NC into Google, you'll get a number of articles, some with helpful links.

Have fun!

From what I quickly read googling, the guineas have to be kept in the hen house until they become familiar with what is their territory and where they get fed. They have to be rounded up at night until they are adults and also in the inclimate and winter weather. That in warmer weather, the adults can be left outdoors to roost in the tree but they're like having a flock of guard dogs in the racket they make to strange noises.
You might have never seen a fox in your yard until you bring poultry in.

They, like chickens will choose your front porch over any chicken house you build for them, no matter how fancy it is.

When I lived in another state and lived way out in the sticks in a primitive cabin that my father and I built - I had just about every animal you can consider keeping (I worked as a zookeeper at the time, if that gives you any idea about what I am referring to). The cabin was only partially constructed and before I left on a vacation I left the flock of ducks and chickens and guineas with a large gravity fed feeder so that the neighbor kid didn't have to come down the dirt road and check on them every single day. I also left a similar feeder set up in the living room of the cabin for the large group of stray cats I rescued and tended to. I thought I had the entry door positioned where only the cats could see it. I had spend many evenings "training" the cats how to get in when the house is locked up tight.

I proceeded to go on a two week camping trip to the Rocky Mountains, foolishly thinking that all would be well back at the homestead.

I drove up the driveway on my return wondering where all my flock was off to since no one met me as I crested the hill - they normally came flying out of the brush to great me and beg for dinner whenever I came home from work. As I unpacked and listened for them I worried that some varmit had come by and killed each and every one of them. There was no sign of them anywhere.

Then I heard it. The clanking "buckwheat, buckwheat, buckwheat!" of the guineas. Only it was muffled as if they were somehow far away but very close at the same time.

I found all 20 of them along with all the other fowl inside the cabin where they had evidently lived for most of the two weeks. I guess they caught wind of the cat food and thought they might like the way it tastes rather than regular old scratch grain so they broke through the screen door and worked their way in through a small opening. How they convinced all the other birds to follow them I'll never know. They were out of water and obviously pissed about it, with all the screaming they were doing.

It took me two weeks to round up all the cats.

I never saw the neighbor kid again (wonder what they did to HIM?).

I don't think I ever found all the "evidence" of their "vacation" behind all the furniture.

So glad I moved.

Never again.

never again what?
never leave them alone?
never have Guineas again?
or never leave a trap door open so they can get into the house?

LOL that was a funny story

When I was child, my parents didn't allow many pets. All animals had to be kept in pens or cages as far away from the house as possible. I of course thought things would be better if they slept in my bedroom with me. This was the basis for many child/parent arguments.

Now as an adult (stop giggling!) I tend to agree with them. I have a few house pets but when I think about getting chickens again I want to house them in the far distant corner of the property.

Personally I like guineas. I like the polka-dot suits they wear and their oddly shaped bald heads. I like the way they sorta do everything as a group, always moving together like a squadron of fighter pilots. They are extremely noisy and after years of behind the scenes work at a zoo I can't handle loud noises (or cement walls). Back at the cabin I had a short picket fence around the garden and every once in a while a guinea would get hung up hopping over that fence. They would dangle all day upside down, hanging by one foot. I would get home in the evening and see the problem and rescue them. The problem was that as they limped off to rejoin the flock, their brothers and sisters would mob them and kill them on the spot. No wounded soldiers allowed. It was just too brutal for me.

Never again will I have guineas up close to my house. If I owned 20 acres and the barn was at the complete opposite corner of the property from the house, then I might consider it.

Wonder if there's a site on Google where you can hear the racket they raise?

I just found this, Dottie .....
http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/sounds/ ....

but it doesn't sound much like what we heard from the quadruplets on the farm tour last weekend.

I couldn't make the video clips play, just the sound.

I was pretty excited when I thought you ID'd my big red ants as Harvester Ants, but when I did research on them, I realized it may not be what I have in the yard. The ants I have are about the same size, color and have several large holes in the ground, but no holes big enough (as shown in my research) for a small animal to crawl in (if he dare)
The ants I have DO NOT LIKE FIRE ANT BAIT...in fact when I sprinkled their nest with the fire ant bait, they went into overtime picking up each granule that had fallen into the holes and setting them in the grass away from the nest, where as the fireants bring the granules down into the hole. It was actually quite comical to watch.
I have seen these big red ants dragging vegetation into the nest as well as a grub, a dead spider, and several other small insects. Do you have any idea what type of ant I may have here??

Okay, my bad, dug a little deeper and found they DO eat insects. But the nests I have seen in my yard look different than what I have seen on the internet. The nests in my yard are about 1-2 feet long and about 1 foot wide. There are SEVERAL large holes where the ants are entering, not just one. I will try to get a picture today to post.

Very few scientist study and identify ants, new species are named each year. Some of these new species are found in large cities, right under our noses. Good luck getting a positive ID on your ant colony.

Keep in mind that most ants do a great job of cleaning your yard of everything from ticks and chiggers to termites. You rarely see ant colonies where you see termites. If I had a large colony (you could also call it a "hive") in my yard I would leave it alone rather than poison it.

my only concern is stepping on a colony that has grown and being sucked in by a sinkhole! And if their venom is as bad as described on line, I am concerned about my dog who does not pay any attention to where he decides to flop down and take a nap.

Dogs usually learn real quick where to step and where not to step. There are only a few really dangerous ants in this area. It sounds like you mean fire ants which can be a problem. They make a tall mound of soil and you usually only see ants when you kick the top off of the mound. Just remember that the poison you use to kill the ants will also do a number on your dog. Danged if you do, danged if you don't.