2026 Is on Track to Be One of the Worst Tick Seasons on Record

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Mice got into my garage a few winters ago. Found droppings near the stored food (which was properly sealed, thankfully). The exterminator was booked for three weeks. So I handled it myself. Traps, steel wool in the entry points, and removing the attractants. Took an afternoon. The mice were gone in a week. Sometimes you're your own pest control.

Here's what I've got this morning.

DIY Pest Control for When the Pros Aren't Available

During any extended disruption, pest control services may be unavailable while conditions that attract pests, food storage, reduced sanitation, and disrupted routines, increase. Knowing how to handle the most common household pests yourself is a practical preparedness skill.

Mice and rats are the most common and most damaging. They contaminate food, chew through wiring (fire hazard), and carry disease. Prevention is the primary tool: seal entry points with steel wool and caulk (mice can fit through a hole the size of a dime), store food in hard containers (not bags), and eliminate water sources. For active infestations, snap traps are more effective and more humane than glue traps. Place them along walls where you've seen droppings. Peanut butter is a reliable bait.

Ants follow scent trails. Clean the trail with vinegar or soapy water to disrupt it. Find and seal the entry point. Borax mixed with sugar water (1:3 ratio) creates a bait that workers carry back to the colony. Place it near entry points. The colony typically dies within a week.

Cockroaches thrive in moisture. Fix leaks, eliminate standing water, and keep food sealed. Boric acid powder applied thinly in cracks, behind appliances, and along baseboards is the most effective long-term roach treatment. It's cheap ($5 for a bottle that lasts months) and works by damaging their exoskeletons.

Mosquitoes breed in standing water. Eliminate any container, tire, bucket, or depression that holds water for more than a few days. For personal protection, DEET-based repellent remains the most effective option. Citronella and natural repellents provide some protection but are significantly less effective.

For stored food protection, diatomaceous earth (food-grade) sprinkled around storage areas deters crawling insects without chemicals. It's safe around food and pets but kills insects by damaging their exoskeletons on contact.

The preparedness angle: store pest control supplies with your emergency supplies. Steel wool, snap traps, boric acid, borax, diatomaceous earth, and a caulk gun cover the most common scenarios. Total cost: about $25. In a prolonged disruption where sanitation standards drop, these supplies become increasingly valuable.

Walk the perimeter of your home and seal any gap larger than a dime.

Check where pipes, cables, and vents enter your house. Seal gaps with steel wool and caulk. This prevents rodent entry and reduces insect access. Takes about 30 minutes.

USDA: Invasive Pests Cost US Agriculture $137 Billion Per Year

USDA estimates invasive species cause $137 billion in annual economic losses to American agriculture and natural resources. The 2026 Farm Bill allocated $150 million specifically for feral swine management through 2031 — 40% to NRCS for on-farm mitigation and 60% to APHIS for large-scale population control. Active threats include the Spotted Lanternfly (westward expansion, attacks over 70 plant species), the New World Screwworm (confirmed 70 miles from the US border), and citrus greening devastating domestic production in multiple states.

The preparedness angle: invasive pests directly threaten domestic food production. The $137 billion annual loss figure shows up in grocery prices and regional shortages. Early reporting to USDA APHIS before a pest establishes is the highest-leverage local action available.

Source: USDA APHIS, NAISMA

Joshua Enyart covers camp sanitation and pest management in Surviving the Wild, noting that in any long-term outdoor or austere environment, pest control becomes a food security issue. Rodents and insects that access your food supply create a cascading problem: contaminated food leads to illness, and illness in an austere environment can be far more dangerous than in normal conditions.

Enyart's principle: prevention is exponentially easier than treatment. Proper food storage, clean preparation areas, and sealed shelters prevent 90% of pest issues. The remaining 10% is manageable with basic trapping and treatment. Neglect prevention, and you're fighting a war you'll lose.

Surviving the Wild by Joshua Enyart

2026 Is on Track to Be One of the Worst Tick Seasons on Record

Emergency department visits for tick bites reached 104 per 100,000 total ER visits in April 2026, up from 68 in April 2025 — a 53% jump, according to the CDC's Tick Bite Tracker. Lyme disease diagnoses are projected to exceed 500,000 this year, which would be a record high. The driver: heavy snowfall across the Northeast this winter acted as a thermal insulator, keeping soil temperatures warmer than normal and allowing tick populations to survive in larger numbers than a typical winter allows.

Also new this season: alpha-gal syndrome — a red meat allergy triggered by the bite of the lone star tick — is spreading into regions where it was previously unheard of. Patients develop severe reactions to beef, pork, and lamb anywhere from 2 to 6 hours after eating. The CDC now estimates more than 450,000 Americans have been diagnosed, with cases rising sharply as lone star tick populations expand northward.

The preparedness angle: tick season runs through fall. DEET-based repellent on exposed skin, permethrin-treated clothing, and a daily full-body check after outdoor time are the most effective prevention measures. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are projected to see the highest case counts. The same DEET repellent already in your kit for mosquito season covers this threat.

Source: CDC Tick Bite Tracker, Axios, Northeastern University, CDC Alpha-Gal Syndrome

Victor M325 Snap Traps (12-Pack)

These are classic wooden snap traps, the kind that have worked for over a century. I bought a 12-pack to deal with the garage mice. Set six along walls where I'd seen droppings, baited with peanut butter. Caught three mice in the first two nights. No more activity after a week.

They're reusable, effective, and kill instantly (more humane than glue traps or poison, which cause prolonged suffering). The trigger sensitivity is adjustable. Set them perpendicular to walls with the trigger end against the baseboard, because mice run along walls.

For about $10 per 12-pack, they're the most cost-effective and reliable rodent control method available. Keep a pack in your storage supplies.

Budget alternative: A bucket trap (DIY). A 5-gallon bucket with a spinning dowel across the top and peanut butter as bait. Mice walk the dowel, spin off, and fall in. Free to build. Effective for multiple catches.

Victor Traditional Wooden Mouse Snap Trap (12-Pack)

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Overrated: Ultrasonic pest repellers. Multiple studies have shown they have little to no effect on rodents or insects. They make a noise that makes you feel like something is happening. The pests disagree.

Underrated: Steel wool. Mice cannot chew through it. Stuffed into gaps around pipes and vents and sealed with caulk, it creates a permanent barrier. A $3 bag of steel wool prevents more rodent problems than any trap solves.

EPA: Pest Control — Federal guidance on safe pest management for homeowners.

DoMyOwn.com — Professional-grade pest control supplies available to consumers.

Primal Survivor — Practical guides on pest management and homestead maintenance.

Grokipedia: Pest Control — Background on pest management methods and history.

Smoking and drying meat at home. Preservation methods that turn fresh protein into shelf-stable food without refrigeration.

PS: The steel wool and caulk took 20 minutes. It's been years with zero rodent activity. Twenty minutes of prevention saved me weeks of trapping.