Straight answers from a licensed New York exterminator and Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) — serving all five boroughs, in English and Spanish.
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Quick answer: Ticks are small blood-feeding arachnids (not insects) that attach to hosts in grassy, brushy, and wooded edges and can transmit Lyme disease and other illnesses. Tick control combines habitat management (reducing leaf litter and tall grass), keeping wildlife hosts away, personal protection, and targeted perimeter treatment.
What are ticks?
Ticks are arachnids, not insects — relatives of spiders and mites — with eight legs as nymphs and adults. Their bodies are flattened and oval, swelling and darkening as they engorge with blood. The blacklegged (deer) tick, which transmits Lyme disease, is tiny, often no bigger than a poppy seed in the nymph stage.
Signs and where ticks are found
Ticks do not fly or jump; they quest by climbing grass and brush and grabbing onto passing hosts. They concentrate along lawn-to-woods edges, in leaf litter, tall grass, and shaded groundcover. The main sign is finding an attached or crawling tick on a person or pet after time outdoors.
Why ticks matter
Ticks can transmit Lyme disease and other pathogens such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Risk rises the longer a tick stays attached, so habitat reduction, prevention, and prompt removal all matter.
How to control ticks
Reduce tick pressure with habitat management: remove leaf litter, keep grass short, and place a wood-chip or gravel barrier between lawn and woods. Discourage host animals (deer, rodents) that carry ticks in, use personal protection (repellents, tucked clothing, tick checks), and apply targeted perimeter treatment to yard edges and harborage where pressure is high.
When to call a professional
For properties near woods or with recurring tick encounters, a professional can map high-risk zones, treat edges and harborage, and recommend landscape changes that make the yard less tick-friendly.
A Brooklyn-based, NYSDEC-registered company (Reg. #15140) led by Jorge Bedoya, an Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE). For pests in your home or building, NYE provides IPM-based, low-exposure control matched to the exact pest and verified with a follow-up. ACE-led work comes with a client portal of service reports and photos, fully bilingual service, and no long-term contract.
Tick FAQ
How do I identify a tick?
Ticks are arachnids with eight legs as adults (six as larvae), a rounded body that swells when engorged with blood, and no wings or antennae. The blacklegged (deer) tick that spreads Lyme is very small, often the size of a poppy seed.
Are ticks dangerous?
Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and other illnesses. Prompt, proper removal of an attached tick reduces the risk of disease transmission.
How do you control ticks around a home?
Reduce tick habitat (remove leaf litter, cut tall grass, create wood-chip barriers between lawn and woods), discourage deer and rodent hosts, use personal protection, and apply targeted treatment to yard edges and harborage.
Where do ticks live?
In tall grass, brush, leaf litter, and the shaded edges where lawns meet woods. They climb vegetation and wait to attach to passing hosts.
How should I remove an attached tick?
Grasp it close to the skin with fine tweezers and pull straight out with steady pressure; clean the area. Save the tick if identification or testing may be needed and monitor for symptoms.
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