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Most of us can handle the occasional spider or stray ant without panicking, but ticks are a different story. These tiny, silent hitchhikers aren\u2019t just unpleasant\u2014they can carry serious diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.<\/p>\n
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And while most people expect to encounter them outdoors, you\u2019d be surprised how often they make their way inside, especially if you have pets or live in an area with tall grass, wildlife, or wooded surroundings.<\/p>\n
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If you ever spot a tick crawling across your floor, hiding in bedding, or\u2014worst-case scenario\u2014latched onto someone in your home, don\u2019t panic. A few simple steps can help you stop the problem quickly, safely, and effectively.<\/p>\n
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First, identify and isolate the tick.<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next, protect yourself and clean thoroughly.<\/strong> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vacuum the surrounding floor carefully, paying extra attention to corners and crevices where they like to hide. Dispose of the vacuum contents outside immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most of us can handle the occasional spider or stray ant without panicking, but ticks are a different story. These tiny, silent hitchhikers aren\u2019t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":431,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions\/431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davisrubin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTry to determine what type it is\u2014black legged, dog tick, or brown dog tick\u2014because some species behave differently indoors. Keep pets and children away from the area where you found it, and avoid touching the tick directly. Most indoor tick problems start with a single hitchhiker, but brown dog ticks can actually reproduce inside houses if not addressed quickly.<\/p>\n
\nBefore handling the tick or the surrounding area, put on gloves and long sleeves to avoid accidental bites. Wash bedding, clothing, or blankets the tick may have touched using high heat\u2014ticks can survive warm cycles but not high temperatures.<\/p>\n