Ticks in an Atlanta yard are a health question, not just a nuisance. Georgia has three species that commonly bite people, and they carry different risks — so the first step is knowing which one you found. If ticks are turning up on your family or pets, call (404) 647-6677 to schedule an inspection.
Which tick did you find?
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension identifies three species most commonly associated with people in Georgia.
American dog tick
Reddish-brown, with off-white markings on the shield behind the head. UGA Extension names it the primary vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Georgia. It is often picked up by dogs along wooded edges and tall grass.
Black-legged tick (deer tick)
Small and dark-legged; adult females have an orange-red body and a dark shield. UGA Extension names it the primary vector of Lyme disease, especially in the nymphal stage — when it is barely the size of a poppy seed and easy to miss.
Lone star tick
Adult females carry a single white spot in the middle of the back. UGA Extension notes that in rare cases people have developed allergic reactions to red meat after a lone star tick bite. The Georgia Department of Public Health describes this condition, alpha-gal syndrome, as rarely reported in Georgia, and notes evidence suggests lone star ticks may be responsible.
What Georgia’s numbers actually show
Most tick advice leads with Lyme disease. Georgia’s own surveillance tells a different story. The Georgia Department of Public Health reports 152 cases of spotted fever rickettsiosis and 136 cases of Lyme disease in Georgia residents from 2019 to 2023, and describes Georgia as a low-incidence state for Lyme disease — some of those Lyme cases may even have been contracted elsewhere. Different ticks carry different diseases here, which is why identifying the species matters.
If you have been bitten and feel unwell, see a doctor — and mention the bite and roughly when it happened.
Where ticks wait on an Atlanta property
Ticks don’t fly or jump. They wait on vegetation for a host to brush past, so they concentrate where people and animals move through cover: wooded edges, tall grass, leaf litter, shaded ground cover, and the paths deer, raccoons and stray animals use to cross a yard. A lawn that stops abruptly at a tree line is the classic hotspot.
Protecting yourself outdoors
UGA Extension’s guidance for Georgia:
- Wear long pants with the legs tucked into your socks.
- Use a repellent containing DEET on skin and permethrin on clothing.
- Check yourself for ticks at least twice a day when you’ve been outdoors.
- Remove an embedded tick with forceps, or with cloth or paper wrapped around it, as close to the skin as possible, using a firm, steady pull.
- Keep grass cut short around the home.
What we do
We inspect the property for the places ticks actually wait, treat those zones rather than blanketing the whole yard, and point out the habitat changes that make the biggest difference. If ticks return between scheduled visits, we re-treat at no additional cost.
Ticks rarely travel alone as a yard problem. If pets are scratching, see our flea control page; if the biting happens at dusk, it may be mosquitoes. Not sure what you’re dealing with? Compare it in the Atlanta pest library.
Schedule a tick inspection
Call (404) 647-6677.
Sources: UGA Extension Circular 937, Protect Yourself from Ticks; Georgia Department of Public Health — Tick-borne Diseases, Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, Lyme Disease.
