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This might not be the right forum for this kind of question, but I figured I'd ask anyway. We're finding random ticks at home, maybe one a day, sometimes one every other day. They look like the picture above (pen for scale). Our house has 3 floors and I've found them on all floors (i.e., they don't keep to one floor). We don't have any pets and we're barely going outside (pandemic and all...).

My questions are:

  1. How big of an issue is this? Are these dangerous? We're expecting a newborn in a month, so we're trying to be as careful as possible.
  2. How do I remove them?
David
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  • Where do you live? Ticks are more prevalent in certain areas of the country. My son lives in rural NY State and they need to check themselves daily for them. Ticks live outdoors. I've never known them to nest in a house. People or animals carry them in. They can be dangerous. They carry Lyme disease for one. If you're out taking walks in fields or areas with undergrowth - that's their territory. You can Google how to remove them. – HoneyDo Apr 07 '20 at 21:56
  • @PolypipeWrangler: doesn't look like a weevil, I count 6 legs + 2 "antlers"? Not sure what you call them. But 8 total little lines. I'll upload a closeup image – David Apr 07 '20 at 22:22
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    Try Biology forum, with species-identification tag. Want to know if this is a dangerous tick. They might well know. – Polypipe Wrangler Apr 07 '20 at 22:57
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has nothing to do with Home Improvement. – Daniel Griscom Apr 08 '20 at 11:05
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    Ticks don't have wings and they're not reknowned for climbing stairs, nor do they jump. They may be coming in on clothing. Their usual tactic is to climb vegetation and then step across onto passing legs/clothing when you brush into them. Do the paths that you walk outdoors have high grasses or any other springboards they could use? – Harper - Reinstate Monica Apr 08 '20 at 14:23

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Yes, they can carry Lime disease among other things. Be sure to do tick checks until you fix the problem.

Diatomaceous Earth is an excellent and relatively safe way to deal with them. The best place to put it is outdoors around the house so that they are dealt with there and before they come into your home. In your case, they seem to be random so it would be hard to target them indoors but you can place some of the DE in corners and on carpet and rugs and it will help get any stragglers.

Ack
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