Long Island has some of the highest tick-borne illness rates in the country. Wooded, brushy yards and tall grass at the edge of a lawn are exactly where ticks wait for a host to brush past.
The blacklegged (deer) tick is the one most associated with Lyme disease locally — small, reddish-brown to black, and easy to miss until it's attached. The lone star tick, identifiable by a single white spot on the female's back, is also common on Long Island and is increasingly linked to its own health concerns.
Ticks don't jump or fly — they wait on tall grass or brush and grab onto a passing person or animal, a behavior called questing, which is why controlling the yard's edges matters as much as checking for ticks after being outside.
Ticks are a genuine health concern here, not just a nuisance — Long Island has among the highest reported Lyme disease rates in the country, and local ticks can also carry anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
Because a tick typically needs to be attached for a period of time to transmit infection, reducing the tick population in the yard itself — not just checking for bites after the fact — is the more effective long-term approach.
Tick treatment focuses on the yard's transition zones — the brushy, shaded edges between lawn and woods where ticks quest for a host — rather than blanket-spraying the whole property.
Because tick activity follows the season, treatment is most effective as a scheduled program through the warmer months rather than a single visit. See our Yard Enjoyment Plan for how that's scheduled.
This pest is covered under our Yard Enjoyment Plan.
Free inspection, no pressure — a real person calls back, usually same day.
Yes — Suffolk County consistently reports some of the highest tick-borne illness rates in New York State, largely due to deer tick populations in the region's wooded and brushy terrain.
Seasonal, scheduled treatment through the warmer months is significantly more effective than a one-time spray, since tick populations rebuild between visits without ongoing coverage.
It substantially reduces the population in treated areas, but ticks can be reintroduced by wildlife moving through the property — which is why an ongoing plan works better than a single visit.