Safe and tasty tick control
Ouch! My first tick of the season. A good-sized deer tick, probably got on me yesterday evening as I cleaned up some of the winter's broken tree bits between the fence and the road. You don't even know the tick is there until the first painful itch when it's well embedded. So, naturally, she's far enough around my back so I can't get at her.
But.... who cares. I hiked up my shirt and grabbed the doggy tick spray and nailed her. Instant relief. She's dead. She will drop off. So what is this miracle spray? Some horrid poisonous chemical? Pish. It's mint and clove oil in water. I don't think the clove is necessary. Mint oil is death to all insects and arachnids. I discovered this truth last season when nothing was working to keep the ticks off my dog. A few drops of good ole kitchen mint oil in a dish of water worked over the dog with my hands gave instant relief and a few weeks or so of repellence.
This miracle solution came off the home remedy shelf one evening as I watched a PBS Nature program. Environmentalists in Hawaii have to search out and destroy invasive yellow jacket nests. There they were going in for the kill in sealed suits carrying big sprayers. Contents of sprayers? Mint oil solution. Death to insects but harmless to other animals. Lucky for us! And for Girl Scouts everywhere.
Postscript: I also use this spray in the chicken coop and on the chickens to kill and deter mites. I've heard of people spraying it around doors to keep spiders out. I would be cautious about using it outdoors, though. It could kill off pollinators, like bees, that we very much need.
Me? I plan to approach my next outdoor project smelling minty fresh and avoid getting ticks in the first place.
But.... who cares. I hiked up my shirt and grabbed the doggy tick spray and nailed her. Instant relief. She's dead. She will drop off. So what is this miracle spray? Some horrid poisonous chemical? Pish. It's mint and clove oil in water. I don't think the clove is necessary. Mint oil is death to all insects and arachnids. I discovered this truth last season when nothing was working to keep the ticks off my dog. A few drops of good ole kitchen mint oil in a dish of water worked over the dog with my hands gave instant relief and a few weeks or so of repellence.
This miracle solution came off the home remedy shelf one evening as I watched a PBS Nature program. Environmentalists in Hawaii have to search out and destroy invasive yellow jacket nests. There they were going in for the kill in sealed suits carrying big sprayers. Contents of sprayers? Mint oil solution. Death to insects but harmless to other animals. Lucky for us! And for Girl Scouts everywhere.
Postscript: I also use this spray in the chicken coop and on the chickens to kill and deter mites. I've heard of people spraying it around doors to keep spiders out. I would be cautious about using it outdoors, though. It could kill off pollinators, like bees, that we very much need.
Me? I plan to approach my next outdoor project smelling minty fresh and avoid getting ticks in the first place.