This summer I posted a reminder that ants, wasps, mosquitoes and ticks all pick up when the weather warms up. Of those four, ticks are the one I get the most worried questions about, and for good reason. They’re tiny, they’re easy to miss, and they carry disease. Here’s what you should know about ticks around South Jersey homes, including why fall isn’t a time to drop your guard.
The Tick That Matters Most: The Blacklegged (Deer) Tick
According to the NJ Department of Health, the main carrier of Lyme disease in New Jersey is the blacklegged tick, also called the deer tick. Ticks pick up the Lyme bacteria as larvae or nymphs when they feed on infected animals, especially the white-footed mouse, and they stay infected for life.
Deer are an important food source for adult ticks, but NJDOH notes that deer don’t transmit the Lyme bacteria themselves. The mice and other small animals living along the edges of your yard play a bigger role in infecting ticks than most people think.
Spring and Early Summer: Nymph Season
NJDOH says nymphal ticks pose the greatest threat of passing infections to people and animals because they’re so small, under 2 millimeters, about the size of a poppy seed, and they can go unnoticed. Nymphs are most abundant between May and July. The state’s own tick surveillance guidance has counties focus their nymph collections from late May through early July, which tells you when those little ones are out in force.
That lines up with when we’re all outside the most: gardening, mowing, kids playing in the yard, dogs running the tree line.
Fall: Adult Ticks Are Out
Here’s the part people forget. NJDOH explains that toward the end of summer and into fall, nymphs mature into adults. Adult ticks can still transmit Lyme disease. The good news is they’re bigger and easier to spot, so they’re more often found and removed before they can pass anything on. That still means checking yourself, your kids and your pets after time outdoors in October and November, especially if you’ve been raking leaves, hunting or walking the dog through the brush.
Where Ticks Hide on Your Property
NJDOH says nymphs are typically found in wooded areas, brush and grassy areas near woodland edges. On a typical South Jersey lot, that means:
- The strip where your lawn meets the woods or a hedgerow
- Leaf piles and leaf litter under shrubs and trees
- Tall grass along fences, sheds and field edges
- Stone walls and woodpiles, where mice and chipmunks hang out
- Overgrown garden beds near the house
If your property backs up to farmland or woods, which describes a lot of homes from Salem to Pennsville, you’ve got more of that edge habitat than most.
Simple Ways to Tick-Proof Your Yard
- Keep the lawn mowed, especially along the edges.
- Rake up leaf litter and clear brush near the house, patios and play areas.
- Put a strip of wood chips or gravel between the lawn and the woods to make a dry border.
- Move swing sets, sandboxes and patio furniture away from the woods line and into the sun.
- Stack firewood neatly, off the ground and away from the house.
- Cut down on rodent hiding spots like brush piles and clutter. Fewer mice can mean fewer infected ticks.
- Talk to your vet about tick protection for dogs and cats.
And after time outdoors, do a full tick check. Pay close attention to behind the knees, around the waistband, under the arms, behind the ears and along the hairline.
Where a Professional Treatment Comes In
Yard upkeep goes a long way, but when you live next to woods or fields, ticks keep coming in on wildlife. A targeted yard treatment focuses on the places ticks actually live: the woods edge, shady beds, fence lines and leaf litter, not just the open lawn. I use eco-friendly products, applied carefully, and I’ll walk the property with you to point out the hot spots. You can read more on our mosquito and tick control page.
Since mice play such a big part in the tick cycle, keeping rodents under control around the house helps too. Our rodent control page explains how I handle that. And if you’re hosting a get-together outdoors, ask about outdoor event spraying.
If you’ve been bitten and feel sick, or notice an expanding rash, call your doctor. That’s a health question, not a pest control one.
Talk to a Local
Have questions about ticks on your property? Call me at 856-599-9376, Monday through Saturday, 8 to 6. Zero Pests is veteran-owned and serves Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland counties, including Salem and Pennsville. NJ license #92354B.
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