Ticks

All About Ticks

Tick calls have climbed across our service area in recent years, and homeowners across Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan are right to take them seriously. Wisconsin sits among the top states in the country for Lyme disease, and tick populations have spread into northern Illinois suburbs and eastern Iowa neighborhoods that once saw very few. If you have kids, pets, or a wooded yard, ticks deserve a spot on your spring and summer radar. We’ve helped families across the region get ahead of tick pressure for over 20 years, and the playbook is more practical than people expect.

What are Ticks?

Ticks are small arachnids (eight legs, related to spiders and mites), and they survive by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Three species drive almost every call we get in IL, IA, WI, and MI: the deer tick (also called the blacklegged tick), the American dog tick, and the Lone Star tick, which has expanded into the region over the last decade. Deer ticks carry Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. American dog ticks can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Lone Star ticks have been linked to alpha-gal syndrome, a delayed allergy to red meat. Different species, different risks, similar prevention approach.

How to Identify Ticks

Appearance: Ticks have a flat, pear-shaped body and eight legs. Size depends on the species and the life stage. An adult deer tick is about the size of a sesame seed, and a fed female can swell to the size of a small grape. American dog ticks are larger and have white or silver patterning on the back. Lone Star ticks (females) carry a single white spot on the back, which is where the name comes from. Color ranges from reddish brown to dark brown to black.

Lifecycle: Ticks move through four stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. They need a blood meal at each post-egg stage to develop. A full deer tick lifecycle takes about two years. Nymphs are the stage that bites people most often because they’re tiny (poppy-seed sized) and easy to miss, and they’re most active in May, June, and July when families are outdoors.

Similar Pests: Ticks are sometimes mistaken for spiders, bed bugs, or skin tags. Two cues help: a tick has eight legs and a flat body before feeding, and it stays attached once it bites. A bed bug walks across skin and feeds quickly. A spider has obvious leg segments and a body split into two clear sections. If you find a small dark dot embedded in skin, treat it as a tick until proven otherwise.

Activity and Seasonality

Active Seasons: Adult deer ticks become active any time the temperature climbs above about 40 degrees, which means a warm February or March stretch can put them in motion. The high-risk window for Lyme transmission runs May through July, when nymphs are out in force. American dog ticks peak in late spring and early summer. Lone Star ticks stay active through hot summer months. Tick activity drops off after a hard freeze, but it does not stop entirely on mild winter days.

Where Activity Peaks: Wisconsin and northern Illinois have the heaviest deer tick pressure in our service area, especially counties with strong deer populations and wooded edges. The Driftless Area in southwestern Wisconsin, the river corridors in eastern Iowa, and the woodlots scattered across DeKalb, Lee, and Ogle counties in Illinois all see consistent tick activity. Western Michigan, including the Grand Rapids area, has growing tick numbers as well.

Where to Find Ticks in or Around Your House

Ticks rarely show up in the middle of a mowed lawn. They cling to the edges. Watch for them in tall grass, leaf litter under shade trees, brushy borders along fence lines, ground cover plantings, woodpiles, stone walls, and areas where deer or rodents travel. Inside the house, ticks usually arrive on people, pets, or laundry. Check pet bedding, mudroom floors, and the inside cuffs of pants and socks after time outside. A tick that hasn’t fed can live for days in a warm, humid spot indoors waiting for a host.

How to Get Rid of Ticks

Immediate Action: If you find a tick on yourself, a child, or a pet, the goal is fast, clean removal:

Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, then pull straight up with steady pressure.
Don’t twist, crush, or burn the tick. That can push fluids back into the bite.
Clean the bite with soap and water, then alcohol or an antiseptic.
Save the tick in a sealed bag if you want it identified or tested. Note the date.
Watch the bite area and the person for two to four weeks. If a rash develops, see a doctor.

Professional Treatments: For households serious about tick reduction across the active season, PCC offers a Mosquito and Tick Hybrid Service as an add-on to the Pest Protection Club. It’s an environmentally friendly barrier treatment built around how ticks actually live in a yard, with visits at three-week intervals through the active season instead of the standard quarterly cadence.

Each visit includes:

A property inspection to find and eliminate standing water and other breeding sources.
Larvicide treatment for any water sources that can’t be removed, which prevents larvae from maturing.
A targeted fog of adult tick and mosquito resting sites, including perimeter vegetation and the shaded areas under decks where ticks wait for hosts.

We also offer a one-time Mosquito/Tick Event Treatment for short-term protection around outdoor parties, reunions, and graduation gatherings. Both options come with PCC’s 100% guarantee.

DIY Methods: Some homeowner steps genuinely help. Mowing regularly, clearing leaf litter, removing brush, and creating a three-foot mulch or gravel barrier between lawn and woods all reduce tick habitat. Tick tubes (cardboard tubes filled with treated cotton that mice carry to nests) can lower tick numbers over a couple of seasons. Personal repellents containing DEET or picaridin work on skin, and permethrin works on clothing. DIY hits a wall when the yard borders heavy woods, when deer pressure is high, or when the family wants reliable coverage through the high-risk months.

How to Prevent Ticks

A practical prevention list for households across our service area:

Mow the lawn weekly during the active season and keep grass short along the edges.
Rake and remove leaf litter, especially in shaded areas under trees and shrubs.
Trim back brush and overgrown plantings near the house and play areas.
Create a three-foot wide barrier of mulch or gravel between lawn and any wooded edge.
Stack firewood neatly, off the ground, in a sunny, dry spot.
Discourage deer with fencing, plant choices, or by removing food sources near the house.
Keep play sets and outdoor furniture away from the yard’s wooded perimeter.
Treat pets with a veterinarian-recommended tick preventive year round.
Wear long sleeves and tucked pants in tick country, and check yourself, kids, and pets after time outside.
Add the Mosquito and Tick Hybrid Service to your Pest Protection Club for three-week barrier treatments through the active season.

Conclusion

Ticks aren’t a casual pest. They carry serious diseases, they’re harder to spot than most people realize, and they reward homeowners who get ahead of them. The good news is that yard-level prevention works. Habitat changes, personal protection, and a barrier treatment program built for tick biology can take a high-pressure property down to a low-risk one within a season or two. If you’re seeing ticks in your yard or pulling them off pets and family members, our Mosquito and Tick Hybrid Service is the most direct way to get pressure under control across spring, summer, and fall.

Ready to get tick pressure under control? Schedule your service or call us at (815) 284-4101.