Luckily I haven’t had to deal with ticks at home yet. No deer around here and almost no rabbits. I do have at least a few regular opossums. I’ve heard they’re great for ticks because they groom themselves a lot and then eat the ticks before they reproduce.
Mosquitoes are my main nemesis. They really really like me and my body reacts pretty strongly to their bites. A single bite will itch intensely for well over a week even with very regular applications of calamine, hydro-cortisone, and antihistamine creams throughout the day everyday. Relief usually only comes once I’ve scratched to the point of bleeding, quite often doing it in my sleep.
I’m not a big fan of having to cover myself in noxious repellents and then having to change my clothes and take a shower when I come inside. One particularly bad skeeter day when I had to work outside I gave in and sprayed my clothes and all exposed skin with DEET. I thought it was working until I came inside and felt something most unpleasant. The little buggers had avoided the DEET by flying up my shorts and biting my bum through my underwear! I had nickel sized welts that were insanely itchy and got very irritated every time I sat down.
I’ve even tried one of those full body black mesh bug suits. That felt a bit stifling with the summer heat and humidity. Plus the mosquitoes would still bite through it on any area that got pulled tight against my skin when I moved around.
I looked at those Thermacell things for a while that are supposed to be a good mosquito repellent, but didn’t like all the warnings about how it’s toxic to other animals of all kinds. It vaporizes insecticides into the air around you! That can’t be good for anyone.