TICK SUPPLEMENT: Developing A Tick Management Program

Typically pest management professionals think of ticks in environments such as fields, meadows or wooded areas. However, the wide variety of hosts that are used by ticks, coupled with the rapid rate of urban sprawl, has facilitated the distribution of ticks throughout the urban and suburban environment and as a result ticks are prevalent on residential, as well as commercial, properties.

“Affluent neighborhoods often border fields, etc., which are tick havens,” said Richard Cooper, technical director for Cooper Pest Control, Lawrenceville, N.J. “Tick control here is natural.” But with potential liabilities, why should PCOs offer tick control?

The thought of something embedding its mouthparts into your skin and sucking your blood is all it takes to make most people remove ticks from their list of favorite things in the world. But the distasteful nature of ticks alone was not enough to cause the public to spend their hard-earned money to control them, Cooper said. “Even the wide variety of diseases that ticks are capable of transmitting was not enough to create a market for tick control,” he said. That is, until the 1980s when Lyme disease became an issue.

“It was the alarming rate of Lyme disease diagnoses, coupled with the debilitating nature of the disease, that catapulted these tiny arachnids from distasteful creatures into feared pests that needed to be controlled,” Cooper said.

PCOs may not know how to develop a tick control program. Cooper says for the most part developing a successful tick control plan is a relatively simple task but there are a number of factors that need to be considered, including:
• What market segments are you interested in targeting?
• What type of services will you offer to your clients?
• What ticks do you plan on covering in your program?
• What liability issues are associated with this service?
• What areas do and do not need to be treated to achieve effective control?
• How many treatments are needed in order to get effective control? During what months are they needed?
• What equipment will be used and what types of materials and methods will be employed?

DEFINING YOUR MARKETS. Before beginning to develop a tick management plan, it makes sense to determine which markets your company is interested in pursuing, Cooper advised. Once you have defined your target markets, the tick control plan can be tailored to meet the needs of each market segment. Cooper said the residential market is possibly the easiest market to sell tick management services to, particularly in areas with upscale neighborhoods where families have disposable income and lots of money to spend on services. Also, many of these neighborhoods border fields or woodlands, which are prime tick habitats.

Another great market is day care centers. Most day care centers have large outdoor play areas, and the trend is to build the play area directly adjacent to a field or wood line. PCOs also should consider marketing tick services to commercial office buildings. Many corporations have picnic areas, courtyards or walking areas that border tick habitats.

SERVICES TO OFFER. PCOs also need to determine what types of services they wish to offer to their clients. Not all tick services require pesticide applications. In fact, many clients may be as concerned about the use of pesticides as they are about the threat that ticks present.

“In keeping with the spirit of IPM, the application of pesticides may not be necessary unless you can document that a problem exists,” Cooper said. One of the services that PCOs may wish to consider is a “tick surveillance program.” A tick drag or survey can provide the client with information regarding the types of ticks present, as well as the density and distribution of ticks on their property. Based on this information, the client can decide whether or not to proceed with a pesticide application. Even if the survey indicates that ticks are present, the client may opt not to do any treatment unless specific types of ticks are present (i.e., deer ticks).

Your company must also decide what ticks you plan to include in your coverage. For example, the four ticks that are most prevalent in the Northeast include the American dog tick, the lone star tick, the deer tick and the brown dog tick. But will your company’s program cover them all? “We exclude the brown dog tick from our treatment program because it is primarily an indoor tick species,” Cooper said. Furthermore, the number of treatments will vary depending on which ticks are covered.

WHERE TO TREAT. Some companies treat all properties in the same fashion. However, broad-scale use of pesticides is in direct contrast to the direction that the industry is heading and fails to take into account the biology and behavior of the target pest. Rather than performing broad-scale pesticide applications, tick control should be accomplished using a targeted approach in areas where tick activity is suspected. However, this will be different on every property. The areas that the pest management company decides to treat will be influenced by a variety of factors, including the specific landscaping of the property, if children or pets are present, as well as the type of activities that occur on the property. The property also may have areas that the client specifically does not want treated or that must be avoided due to concerns of non-target exposure or contamination. Finally, and perhaps most important, the treatment program will be shaped based upon the goals and objectives of the client. This is important because most clients request service based upon the fear of a disease threat and you must be certain that the program you propose will meet their objectives, Cooper said. Otherwise, you are better off walking away from the job.

It is also important to identify secondary tick harborages (landscaped areas on properties that are capable of supporting ticks) as treatment may be needed in these areas. The ability of a secondary harborage to support tick populations is based on its proximity to primary tick habitats, as well as how dense or overgrown the landscaped area is, coupled with the number of small animal hosts such as birds, rodents, rabbits, etc., that live in or frequent the landscaped area.

Finally, there are areas on properties that may require great caution in order to avoid contamination of a non-target area. Identifying these areas (i.e., herb gardens, play areas or areas bordering streams or wetlands) may be more important than determining what areas need to be treated.

Pest management professionals must also determine what materials they are going to use. Both granular and liquid residual formulations are commonly used for the control of ticks. Granular formulations are used to penetrate the leaf litter where the larval ticks are most prevalent. Liquids, on the other hand, are used to treat the foliage where nymphal and adult stages are more abundant.
“In my experience, effective control can be achieved with liquids alone, as long as enough pressure is used to penetrate the leaf litter,” Cooper said. “Granular and liquid residual formulations of synthetic pyrethrins have been good products, in my experience.”

Power spray equipment typically is required in order to achieve the proper penetration of the leaf litter and coverage of the vegetation. Modified tractors equipped with 15- to 25-gallon sprayers enable PCOs to get virtually anywhere on the property with great ease and efficiency, compared to a truck-mounted power rig.

During the application there are several things to accomplish, Cooper said. First, it is important to get good penetration of the ground cover. This can be done using either granules or power spray equipment. Second, be sure to treat all of the foliage to a height of about 4 feet to ensure coverage of the vegetation where adult ticks may be questing for larger hosts, such as deer. Also, extend the treatment to at least 10 feet into the primary harborage whenever possible. Perhaps the most critical area for treatment is the transition zone between the primary harborage and the manicured environment — it is important to ensure that this area is treated thoroughly. In Cooper’s experience, he said he has seen no need to treat more than 5 feet into the manicured environment.

How often and when to treat is probably the area that is most open to debate, Cooper said. Based on the biology and behavior of the deer tick, it is probably only necessary to treat either in late fall or early spring to knock down the overwintering adult population. A second treatment is needed when nymphs are active, which in New Jersey is around June. However, to achieve adequate control of other ticks (i.e., American dog ticks, lone star ticks), treatments in August and October also are advisable, Cooper says.

LIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS. Education of clients coupled with a well-trained technician goes a long way in protecting firms from the liabilities associated with tick control.

Choose words carefully when developing agreements and brochures. Never suggest that a treatment program will “eliminate” ticks or will “prevent” tick-borne diseases. Instead, use phrases like, “Our program is intended to reduce the likelihood of encountering ticks that transmit Lyme disease by lowering the tick populations on your property.”

Pest management professionals also should clearly state the limitations of the program. Make sure that printed materials clearly indicate which ticks are covered, that reduction of ticks is limited to the areas where treatment has been agreed upon, and that the client is responsible for maintaining a well-manicured property.

CONCLUSION. “Tick control can be an effective and profitable service,” Cooper said. “Society has opened the door for the pest control industry to take advantage of new business opportunities. Vector control programs for such diseases as West Nile virus and Lyme disease have created opportunities for our industry to develop mosquito and tick management programs.” New technologies are being developed and the future in tick management looks bright. The opportunity is there if you want it, he said. “Just be careful what you tell your customers you can deliver,” Cooper said.  

The author is editor of pct magazine. she can be reached at jdorsch@pctonline.com.