Ticks: What You Need To Know

Tick Facts:

– Ticks are parasitic organisms that feed on the blood of their host.

– Although commonly thought to be an insect, ticks are actually arachnids which means they are more like spiders.

– The most common ticks are the deer tick (also called blacklegged tick), the lone star tick and the dog tick.

– Ticks can be active in temperatures above 45 degrees.

– Pets and people can contract multiple diseases from a single bite.

– Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Ehrlichia are all contracted by tick bites.

– Dogs are more likely to contract ticks than cats.

Top Places To Check For Ticks

1. Ears
2. Neck
3. Under Legs
4. Groin/Tail
5. Between Toes

How to remove a Tick

Use tweezers to grip the tick as closely to the skin as possible. Slowly pull upward and try to keep the tick intact,. Leaving the head or any body parts in the skin can lead to an infection. Do not touch the tick with your hands as they can carry many diseases. Place the tick into a sealed container and mark the date. If you or your pet begins showing any unusual symptoms your medial examiner will likely want to test the tick. After the removal has taken place, thoroughly wash the area with rubbing alcohol, soap and water.

Preventing Tick Bites

• Wear the right clothing. Try not to leave any bare skin where ticks could easily attach. Wear long sleeves and pants. It’s also easier to spot ticks in light colored clothing.
• Use natural  insect repellent. 
• Stay on the trails. When possible, stay on walking trails and away from overgrown areas where ticks may hide.
• Check for ticks throughout the day.
• Eliminate their habitats. Make your property less friendly to ticks by mowing the grass and trimming bushes. Spray a chemical-free  insecticide such as PCO Choice to kill existing bugs which will also act as a repellent.
• Check your pets.  Regularly checking for ticks and using a extra-strength tick repellent such as TickShield will help prevent pets from bringing ticks into your home.

The post Ticks: What You Need To Know appeared first on CedarCide.

6 Tips To Eliminate Bugs Naturally

The best way to avoid encounters with pesky bugs is to take preventative measures. Use these easy tips to reduce unwanted pests.

1.) Maintain Your Yard Prevents: Ticks, Mosquitoes, Chiggers, Flies, Ants

Mowing regularly and removing debris from your yard is one of the first steps you should take in bug-proofing your home. Insects find overgrown areas to be a safe haven and will  make homes there. Treating your lawn with natural pesticides and mulches will also safely treat and prevent infestations.

2.) Wipe Floors & Counters
Prevents: Ants, Flies, Cockroaches

Insects need food and water just like we do, so leftover crumbs or spills can quickly turn into a tasty buffet for them.  Storing food in airtight containers and keeping your floors and counters clean and is key. Vacuuming regularly is also important. For active bug problems, sprinkle home-safe granules or use an all-purpose bug spray to treat areas known to be affected. (Fun fact, Cedar Oil is safe to use in all food prep areas!)

3.) Remove Standing Water
Prevents: Mosquitoes, Flies

Mosquitoes rely on water for both feeding and breeding.  Remove standing water from trash cans, pots, furniture, buckets, etc.  If you have birdbaths, be sure to change the water every 2-3 days. Regularly removing debris and leaves from gutters and drains is also important.

4.) Seal Your Doors & Windows
Prevents: All bugs

It’s good practice to annually check your doors and windows for cracks or openings. Bugs (and other critters) look for places like this to gain access to your home. A simple weatherstrip or door sealing kit can often do the trick if you find openings. Also, spraying your doors and window seals with an all-purpose repellent will deter them from entering your home.

5.) Clean Trash Cans
Prevents: Mosquitoes, Flies

For a number of reasons including food and shelter, bugs love trash cans. Regularly wiping down your trash cans and spraying an all-natural repellent will significantly cut down  or eliminate this problem.

6.) Treat Your Pets
Prevents: Fleas, Ticks, Mosquitoes

One of the quickest ways fleas and ticks enter your home is through your pets. Spraying your pets with natural flea & tick spray before going outside is a safe way to keep fleas and ticks away. Avoid heavily wooded areas during peak tick season and always do a tick inspection after outdoor activities.

The post 6 Tips To Eliminate Bugs Naturally appeared first on CedarCide.

Dock Diving Duo Inspires Hope

Six years ago, Deb Feller attended her first dock diving competition as a spectator. She immediately fell in love and knew if she ever had a dog who loved the water that she would train it to dock dive. But sometimes, life has other plans. A few months after the competition Deb was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Four surgeries and six months of chemotherapy treatments later, Deb had all but given up.

But, her partner, Laurie, had a plan! Laurie brought home two eight week old puppies from a friend’s unplanned litter. “Deb has always had a passion for animals,” Uebelhoer said, “particularly dogs. When I heard about the pups that were available, I knew the timing was perfect. Deb would be home recovering
for six more weeks before returning to work. Although I couldn’t be there every day to encourage her to get off the couch, I knew a puppy would.”

As the puppies grew stronger each week, so did she. At just 14 weeks old, Doni and his brother were retrieving balls from the pool. Deb began researching everything she could and even devised her own tools for training. Doni worked hard as he matured and showed much promise for his dock diving future.

It wasn’t long before Deb and Doni were on the road chasing titles together. Over the last three years Deb has remained cancer free and Doni has grown into a world-renowned dock diving dog.

Doni and Deb will be competing in events across the United States this year. When he’s not dock diving you may find Doni moonlighting as a therapy dog or out on the trails with Deb and her horses.

For Doni and Deb, this story is one with a happy ending. Sometimes the best medicine for humans is a dog who believes their love can cure you. For Deb, Doni was the cure.

Cedarcide is proud to sponsor Doni and Deb in both national and world dock-diving competitions. He is currently ranked #1 in the country and #4 in the world. Doni can leap 27’9” in a single bound! That’s the length of a red double-decker bus… he’s also able to leap as high as 6’10” vertically.

Pictures of Doni

The post Dock Diving Duo Inspires Hope appeared first on CedarCide.

The Story of the Treaty Oak Tree

To celebrate Arbor Day, we’re going to share a story about one of the most famous trees in Texas, the Treaty Oak in Austin. This is a 500 year old tree in the center of the city. Folklore holds this as the spot that Stephen F. Austin, leader of the colony that eventually became Texas, signed the first treaty with the Native Americans that lived there. The American Forestry Association put the Treaty Oak into its Hall of Fame as the most perfect specimen of a North American tree. Suffice to say, this is a pretty important tree both locally and nationally.

In 1989, Paul Cullen poisoned the Treaty Oak, using enough of the herbicide Velpar to kill 100 trees. He thought the tree represented his love for his ex-girlfriend, and he would no longer love his ex-girlfriend if the tree were no longer alive. Arborists thought that the tree was doomed. Former Presidential Candidate Ross Perot wrote a blank check to fund efforts to save the tree. His money was put to good use by the arborists. They did everything they could to save the tree. DuPont, the manufacturer of Velpar, said that they never needed to reverse the effects and didn’t know how, but offered their assistance and a reward for finding the poisoner. A piece of the tree was cut off and planted next to it, in hopes that if the Treaty Oak died, there would still be something to remember it by. Eventually, with a lot of sugar to counteract the Velpar and a lot of pruning, the tree survived. Both the main tree and the baby tree are thriving today. Paul Cullen was sentenced to nine years in jail and passed away in 2001.

The Treaty Oak isn’t a cedar tree, but it’s still a great tree worth celebrating this Arbor Day. It’s a symbol of our Texan heritage and strength. Just like we wrote about Lewisville Lake, it shows how people and nature can combine to create something great. But mostly, we just wanted to share an interesting story about a tree.

More info:
Wikipedia
Criminal podcast episode 36: Perfect Specimen

Thanks to Matthew Rutledge on Flickr for the photo.

The post The Story of the Treaty Oak Tree appeared first on CedarCide.

Humans and Nature: Lake Lewisville

CedarCide has a lot in common with Lewisville Lake, the 29,000 acre lake that’s about a mile from our warehouse in Lewisville, Texas. Both are combinations of human power and nature to create something awesome. Lewisville Lake, like every lake in Texas, was man made. The lake provides water to the city of Dallas and its surrounding suburbs, and CedarCide provides natural insect protection to people around the world.

The lake’s primary purpose is to provide water, but it gives so much more. There are 10 parks around the 233 miles of shoreline, providing beaches, picnic facilities, and scenic golf courses. There are 7 campgrounds that allow people to really get in tune with the lake. Fishing is a common activity on the lake, and there have even been fishing competitions. There are a few restaurants and bars on the shores as well as Captain Jack’s Floating Bar and Grill which is actually on the lake. The lake provides commerce as well, with many companies selling, renting, repairing, or storing boats. CedarCide matches the lake again, offering pet shampoo and sunscreen in addition to the insect products.

Many of the people who work at CedarCide have a personal connection with Lewisville Lake. Ray and Dave take Dave’s boat out to the lake and go wakeboarding every weekend when it’s warm enough. They’ve also been known to go when it’s freezing cold. A few of us have accepted their invitations to join them. Matt used the lake as his training ground while he was training for a marathon last year. The I-35 bridge over Lake Lewisville provides a great view for Austin and Neil, who live in Denton. They’ve been able to appreciate it for an extra long time due to the 4 year construction project on that road.

We’re very big fans of Lewisville Lake. It’s a wonderful, powerful combination of nature and human engineering that we aim to be as well.

The post Humans and Nature: Lake Lewisville appeared first on CedarCide.

Update on Zika

We previously reported on suspicions that pesticides used to combat Zika, and not the Zika virus itself, were causing microcephaly in babies. It turns out that this is not true. Reports in the New England Journal of Medicine and the journal Science directly associate microcephaly with the Zika virus. This just adds to the urgency in containing and eliminating the virus.

Zika virus has not become a huge problem in the USA, but it has also definitely not gone away. As of April 6th, there have been almost 350 cases of Zika found in the States and all of them have been linked to travel in areas heavily affected by Zika. Nobody in the continental US has acquired Zika from a local mosquito, which hopefully means that there are no Zika-carrying aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the country.

The best way to avoid Zika is not to travel to countries that have affected mosquitoes. The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning against travel to over 40 countries due to Zika. They keep that advisory up to date with the latest Zika outbreaks. All of the normal advice against mosquitoes still applies: wear long clothing when possible, try to avoid wet areas where mosquitoes thrive, and use effective insect protection. CedarCide offers CedarCide Original Biting Insect Spray, a natural and effective insect repellent that does not contain DEET.

• 

  CedarCide Original Natural Personal Insect Repellent

  from $19.95

Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/united-states.html
http://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa1601824
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2016/04/11/science.aaf6116

The post Update on Zika appeared first on CedarCide.

Cedar Trees are Weeds, but We Love Them Anyway

As a kid, I loved dandelions. They’re pretty, plentiful, and there are a thousand fun ways to play with them. Then someone told me that they were weeds and I was confused. How can they be weeds when they’re so great? Weeds are simply plants that aren’t wanted by the land owner. The owner certainly didn’t plant and cultivate those dandelions.

Today, I feel the same way about cedar trees. Cedar trees, of course, are where we get cedar oil from. Cedar oil is an almost magical substance that has many great qualities in addition to its power to kill and repel insects. It’s great for skin, has a calming influence, and has other impressive qualities. Unfortunately, the cedar tree itself is a weed.

There are three big problems with cedar trees. The cedar trees cause a seasonal allergy called “cedar fever” that affects nearly everybody in the region. They also use a lot of water, which is a problem in a place like Texas that doesn’t always get much rain. The last reason is that a lot of dry cedar trees is a big fire hazard.

CedarCide gets its cedar oil from Texas cedar trees. Cedar oil is made by chopping down the tree, cutting the wood into small pieces, and distilling the oil out of the wood. Of course, this destroys the tree. However, cedar trees are constantly being chopped down by land owners for a variety of reasons and usually these “scrap trees” are simply burned.

Cedar trees are weeds. They’re unwanted plants. We make something great out of them and we’re proud of that.

Sources:
https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/09/20/texas-most-hated-tree-drought-wildfires-renew-interest-in-cedar-eradication/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-war-on-cedar/
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/health-benefits-of-cedar-wood-essential-oil.html
http://www.texasmedclinic.com/news/symptoms-remedies-cedar-fever-and-allergies-austin-san-antonio/

The post Cedar Trees are Weeds, but We Love Them Anyway appeared first on CedarCide.