Unfortunately ticks won’t just go and find these tick tubes on their own. What you want is for mice to find them. Mice carry a lot of nymph (baby) ticks and will use the permethrin soaked cotton to line their nests thus killing the baby ticks before they have a chance to get in your yard and bite you.
If you don’t want to make your own tick tubes you can buy them at places like Amazon. But it really is incredibly easy to make them, with minimal materials and costs so much less.
DIY Tick Tube Supplies:
– Permethrin insect repellent in a spray bottle (I used Sawyer brand)
– Empty toilet paper rolls (you can also use empty paper towel rolls or PVC pipe)
– Cotton balls (or dryer lint)
– Gloves
– Mask
– Cardboard box to spray into
Gather all your supplies, you probably already have most of them in your home except Permethrin. Put your cotton balls inside of the cardboard box and take everything outside. With your mask and gloves on spray all the cotton balls until they are saturated. Allow cotton balls to dry and then flip them over and repeat the spraying process on the other side. Take note that Permethrin is safe for animals however while it is wet it is not safe for cats as it affects their central nervous system so make sure to keep wet Permethrin away from cats. Once dry the Permethrin is safe for cats.
