How NBHS Controls Disease-carrying Pests

     • NBHS experts look for existing mosquito, tick, and rodent habitat and develop intervention strategies with homeowners
     • We design our green infrastructure to optimize habitat for desirable biodiversity while making it less hospitable to pests
     • We also recommend effective, ecological, and economical pest control techniques and when necessary refer clients to outside experts

Success is determined by decreases in tick and mosquito counts over time as compared to baseline counts. Qualitatively, clients will observe a reduction of such pests on their property and better understand how to manage them long-term.

A Closer Look...

As Michigan's climate gets hotter and wetter, we are seeing an increase in "vector-borne" diseases and the pests (vectors) that spread them.⁹ NBHS addresses this inherently ecological challenge with ecological solutions that reduce or isolate disease-spreading pests (e.g. ticks, mosquitoes, white-footed mice). A study from the Northeastern U.S. found that around 3/4 of tick bites occur in an individual's own yard.¹⁰ Both ticks and mosquitoes tend to live out their lives fairly near where they are born,^11,12 and homeowners often unknowingly breed them in their own yards. To survive and reproduce, ticks need moist sheltered environments and animal hosts (e.g. deer). Mosquitoes, for their part, require standing water to breed.¹³ Long grass alone does not provide good habitat for deer ticks (Lyme Disease host),^14,15,16 and mosquitoes cannot breed in it.¹⁷ The NBHS audit looks for existing mosquito, tick, and rodent habitat so we can develop intervention strategies with clients. If clients hire us to install green infrastructure, we optimize it to create habitat for desirable biodiversity while making it less hospitable to pests. In addition to discouraging pest habitat, we can also recommend effective, ecological, and economical pest control techniques (e.g. selective traps) and in some cases refer clients to licensed specialists for more aggressive interventions. Anecdotally, over the decade that Cynthia and I have practiced ecological pest control on our own property, we've never seen a tick and have seen a dramatic decrease in mosquitoes.

⁹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Regional Health Effects – Midwest,” Climate and Health, last modified June 3, 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/climate-health/php/regions/midwest.html

¹⁰Lars Eisen and Rebecca J. Eisen, “Critical Evaluation of the Linkage Between Tick-Based Risk Measures and the Occurrence of Lyme Disease Cases,” Journal of Medical Entomology 53, no. 5 (September 2016): 1050–1062, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5777907/

¹¹Mississippi State University Extension Service, “Pest Snapshot: Yellow Fever Mosquito (*Aedes aegypti*),” accessed May 28, 2026, https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/pest-snapshot-yellow-fever-mosquito-aedes-aegypti

¹²Sarah E. Randolph, Durland Fish, and Jonathan F. Levine, “Thirty Years of Tick Population Genetics: A Comprehensive Review,” Infection, Genetics and Evolution, no. 29 (2015): 164–179, accessed May 28, 2026, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567134814004110.

¹³University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, “Mosquito Control Around the Home,” by Elmer W. Gray, accessed May 28, 2026, https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/C1266/mosquito-control-around-the-home

¹⁴Susannah B. Lerman and Vincent D’Amico, “Lawn Mowing Frequency in Suburban Areas Has No Detectable Effect on Borrelia spp. Vector Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae),” PLOS ONE 14, no. 4 (2019): e0214615, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214615

¹⁵Daniel C. Mathisson et al., “Effect of Vegetation on the Abundance of Tick Vectors in the Northeastern United States: A Review of the Literature,” Journal of Medical Entomology 58, no. 6 (November 2021): 2030–2037, https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/58/6/2030/6291429

¹⁶Ed Ricciuti, “Forest Edge, Stone Walls Pinpointed as Backyard Hot Spots for Blacklegged Ticks,” Entomology Today, March 15, 2024, https://entomologytoday.org/2024/03/15/forest-edge-stone-walls-backyard-hot-spots-blacklegged-ticks/

¹⁷National Science Foundation, “Research Product (PAR ID 10654452),” NSF Public Access Repository, accessed April 14, 2026, https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10654452