Do Squirrels Carry Ticks? 7 Control Tips

Squirrels are part of the bigger rodents’ family. They are prone to pests and parasites but do squirrels carry ticks?

Do Squirrels Carry Ticks? Yes, squirrels can carry ticks, and they also carry other parasites like fleas and spread them to pets and also humans.

• Among the most common ticks are the squirrel ticks. They are also likely to host ticks that cause Lyme disease. 

Squirrels are known for their long fluffy tail as they invade cereals, nuts, and other foods from our homes. They bring harm by spreading diseases that are caused by ticks and fleas and other parasites.

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Well, if you like squirrels as a pet or you have wild squirrels invading your home, they are all likely to spread pests, parasites, and diseases in your home.

Details: Do Squirrels Carry Ticks?

Squirrels carry ticks and are a host of many other parasites like fleas. They can spread them to humans if you have a squirrel as a pet.

• They can also be spread through pets like dogs and cats as they go chasing them around your house.

Therefore there can be no doubt that squirrels are capable of carrying and spreading ticks into your house.

Risks of Attracting Squirrels to Your Farm

Now that you know squirrels can carry ticks, there are also other risks of having squirrels around your home.

Squirrels are the primary host squirrel ticks that are found in the eastern part of the United States. Apart from biting they are also known to spread the Powassan virus

• Squirrels also can carry ticks that are capable of causing diseases like Lyme disease.
• This disease is only transmitted by infected ticks to human beings.
• Apart from ticks, squirrels are also carrying other parasites like fleas.

They are known to cause itching and bites to both humans and pets. Some people are allergic to these bites and the fleas might also cause diseases in pets too. 

Related: Poison for Killing Squirrels

Do squirrels carry Lyme Ticks?

Yes, squirrels can carry Lyme ticks. However, they are not the popular host.

• There are over 60 species of birds and animals that carry Lyme ticks, squirrels being among them.

Lyme ticks are highly associated with cause Lyme disease from squirrels to humans. Only the infected ticks are likely to spread the disease.

Do Squirrels Carry Disease To Humans?

Apart from Lyme disease caused by ticks that squirrels carry, there are also other diseases that squirrels transmit and carry.

• They are salmonellosis which is spread through squirrel droppings
• Tularaemia disease spreads to the skin, eyes, lymph’s, and lungs.
• Rabies disease is spread to humans through bites or when scratched.

Though it’s rare to get this disease from squirrels, those who keep squirrels as pets are much prone to this.

How Do You Keep Squirrels Away From Your House?

Unless you are keeping a squirrel as a pet, you may want to keep the squirrels away from your home.

Having squirrels around attracts more danger for you and it’s time to get rid of them. How do you do it?

1. Cutting Food Supply

Avoid giving squirrels food. Squirrels come around our homes because they want food found within the yards or the house.

• They like to feed bird food and others too.
• Some people are even fond of feeding the squirrels, this way they will keep on coming to your house even when uninvited.
• If you want them to stay away from your home make sure they have nothing to eat.

Alternatively, you can use anti-rodent feeders if you really have to feed the bird and other animals.

2. Pruning Branches adjacent to the house

Pruning of the branches of the trees especially those close or are in contact with our houses.

• Squirrels are very much likely to use them to get to the house especially when they are looking for a warmer place for breeding.

By pruning these branches, you limit their access in and out of your house. 

3. Using Squirrel Traps

In case you are dealing with wild squirrels, they are hard to get and you can use traps to catch them.

This way you can then proceed to use sprays and other tick control measures to treat the ticks before letting them back into the wild.

4. Essential Oils and Natural Repellents

Some essential oils and are very good repellents are against squirrels. Peppermint and garlic are very effective because of their pungent smell.

• Using this around your house keeps off the squirrels.  Alternatively, you can also use hot pepper on the food given to squirrels.

Pepper has a very irritating effect on the squirrels which chases them from around your house.

5. Predator Decoy and Scents

The primary predators for the squirrels are hawks, eagles, foxes, and coyotes.

You can these predators decoys or scents make sure squirrels don’t come anywhere near your house.

• For decoys, you have to keep on changing their location to make them look real and avoid the squirrels getting used to them. You can as well use different decoys at different times.

As for scents, the best would be urine scent. When the squirrels smell the urine or any other scent of the predator, they get scared and may not want to be around that place.

6. Using Squirrel Repellents

There are different squirrel repellents that you can use to keep squirrels away from your home.

They range from granules and chemical-based repellents to ultra-sonic motion sensors.

How Do You Get Rid Of Ticks On A Squirrel?

As part of preventing infestation of ticks into your house, you can also opt to control them from the squirrels themselves.

• So far using drops would be a very reliable and effective way to control ticks from the squirrels.
• These drops are placed at the baby squirrel’s neck to kill and control ticks and fleas.

Alternatively, you can also use powders and sprays for the same. As for sprays, it is much effective if you use cotton balls instead of spraying on the squirrel directly.

Conclusion

Do squirrels carry ticks? Yes, they do. And these ticks are possible spreaders of Lyme disease among others.

• If you keep a squirrel as a pet, you need to check for ticks and take immediate action to control them.

If you are a victim of wild squirrels, there are possible ways to control them from invading your house as described in the article above.