BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 4, 2022
It’s an inescapable fact of life in Maine these days that, just as the best of spring weather beckons people to the outdoors, ticks are right there waiting for them. Options for dealing with ticks include chemical pesticides, natural repellants, fencing, habitat modification and importing domestic birds known to dine on ticks. One resident is preparing to burn parts of her land to reduce the tick population. “There is no single, silver bullet that is going to control ticks,” said Griffin Dill, manager of the University of Maine Tick Lab. “An integrated approach combining multiple strategies is important.” The most common first step is application of chemical pesticides. But that can’t be the end of tick management. Dill suggests a tick control device like tick tubes or special rodent bait boxes. Both safely apply a tick-killing chemical that is harmless to the rodent onto its body. When a tick tries to bite the rodent, the chemical will kill the parasite.