By my count you have had 12 treatments not counting the fogging’, that’s a lot of pesticide and my immediate advice would be to stop with interior spraying for now. You didn’t mention if you had the yard and or shrubbery around the house treated and if not I would suggest that.

What I would also recommend is to start searching furniture. Turn everything over, pull out dresser drawers, under tables, rugs you name it. Drapes are big time spots too. What you’ll be looking for is ticks of course but also egg clusters of ticks. Those need to be found and destroyed. One cluster could have given you all those ticks you mentioned. Also close all the doors of rooms not being used and place a rolled up towel across the bottom. Sometimes ticks will hide in the towel and if nothing else it limits some lanes of travel.

You mentioned you stayed out of the home for 2 months. Much like the flea a tick will just stay put with no activity and if that’s the case they did not move and therefore did not contact the pesticides. Once you come in for any length of time it signals them that a meal is near and they begin to move. Dried chemical will not give an instant kill so they need to keep moving to contact more, get hit directly or sit in a spot with residual for long enough periods of time to die.

I had just such an account this year and it was frustrating for awhile. We spent 3 hours taking the place apart and treating everything. We still had ticks and had to do it several more times. The treatments were spaced out and eventually we won. I think we only found one cluster and the dog was professionally taken care of. This customer did have another company before mine but when he saw what we did he stuck with us because he knew we were doing the most thorough job that could be done.

My other suggestion would be to think which company treated you the best and was the most thorough. Before to much time lapses I would call them back and they should be happy for the business. If you wait they may charge the initial fee again but perhaps this way they might do it for a reduced or maintenance cost. If you have no confidence in them then you’ll need to be persistent on your own.

You have a ton of residual in the home and I would hate to see you add to it until some of it breaks down. By all means spray (or have sprayed) the areas you didn’t get ie; if you didn’t over turn the furniture etc. Suspend SC is great and Pre cor 2000 plus works wonders. (it has a 6 month residual)

Lastly check the perimeter and garage for any birds nest or unknown critter in the bushes, they carry ticks and that could be funneling them in to your home.

This was a great question and I see it happen at least once or twice per year. Do everything right and STILL have a problem. I’m going to paste this in the comments section because I think it’s a excellent teaching moment.

Good Luck & please let us know how you did and if any other details come up that may help me narrow it down for you.
Thanks for reading

The Bug Doctor

I had recently read some of your responses re: tick infestation and was hoping you might have some advice for me.

Approximately a month ago I found a tick on my dog. Took her to the kennel to get treated and shaved. While she was there I literally found 100′s of them in the sitting room and master bedroom. This was 2 months ago.

We are a very clean, clutterless family. Living in a 3 year old home with brand new furniture. I have seven dusted, personally sprayed suspend and fogged inummerable times. Over this time, I have had six different bug companies come to treat the house. Two of them have been back 3 times. All of them have said “Oh they will be gone in a week”. Again, that was 2 months ago.

We have stayed out of the house over the course of this time and as of yesterday when we returned, we have found over 20 live ticks.

Please if you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Bill

It may be that you picked up some ticks at a recent picnic or walk along a trail. It’s also possible that a birds nest is just outside and the ticks are wandering in. If you can isolate the source that will help but it does sound unusual. And if it is a park or something just try to avoid that area for awhile.

To treat I suggest Pre Cor 2000 plus. It’s labeled for ticks and can treat up to 2000 square feet. You dispense the product by holding the can upside down and you will need to treat under furniture especially around the legs and base. The can isn’t efficient for this so you’ll need to turn some things over. (also wear a rubber glove) Treat carpets and around edges of walls and curtains. Be thorough for best results. If you have a gallon sprayer that has a good fan spray then I would also use Suspend SC or Demand CS and do the same complete treatment. All 3 are available at a DIY store I’m sure.

Don’t buy into what you’ve read about professionals. I get 100′s of tick calls every year and it’s rare and extreme circumstances that prevent the treatment from working. I’m sure you have plenty of good companies in your area that can help.

Thanks for reading and please write back if you need further assistance.
bugdoctor@embarqmail.com

The Bug Doctor

Please HELP!

Please HELP!

Birds have ticks all the time so we know they are up there plus I’m sure they climb up on there own as well. It would be interesting to know if they see their prey and ‘time’ the jump or if it were to just get down out of the tree quickly. Bombs away!

What do you think?

Thanks for the great point, I’ll remember that on my next tick article.

The Bug Doctor