petunia

Sounds like you are in a real tick hot spot. You should try tick tubes - sometimes called Damminix (sp?). The website is www.ticktubes.com. They are really easy to use, and pretty environmentally friendly. They control the tick population by getting the host animal (mice) to spread pesticide to the place it will get the most ticks at once (in the mice dens). But they don't hurt mice or pets. We have been using them for a couple of years now and they really have reduced the numbers of ticks.