Monday, May 30, 2011

Natural way to battle fleas and ticks

With the summer at the doorstep, we all love to spend time outside. Sun, green countryside, sleeping on the grass... By doing do we are getting exposed to some nasties that can cause a lot of trouble for as small as they are. Ticks and fleas are some of the creatures you want to avoid especially if they are infected as they can transmit many diseases onto humans as well as your pets.
Repellent might be a solution, however, the many toxic substances that it may contain such as DEET, can often be very harmful when spraying on your skin. 
The good news is that there are many natural alternatives, here are some of them: 
Eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender repel against ticks, fleas, mosquitos and even spiders. Try mixing 200 ml of water, 10ml of white alcohol such as vodka or gin, and add eucalyptus and lavender essential oils, five drops each. Place into a spray bottle and shake before each use so the oils and the water blends.
A remedy that I came across recently included rosemary for cooking, water and vinegar. Boil 1 liter of water and put aside to mix with a sacket of rosemary, which you leave in the mixture until it cools down. Then add a spoon of white wine vinegar, place in the mechanical spray bottle and keep in the fridge. Spray onto your skin up to the knees and do not forget your shoes as well.
If you are more of the garlicky person, you might want to mix garlic juice 1:5 with water. Although, here you might repel your partner as well.
To avoid mosquitos when barbecuing, throw some rosemary leaves onto your 'barbie' and you are ready to enjoy a mosquito free event. 
You might want to keep decorating eucalyptus leaves close to your pets area or place soaked cotton balls with eucalyptus oil there.
This makes me think that koalas who eat eucalyptus all their lives must be free of ticks and fleas. Hm, I adore the 'eucalypty' smell of koala fur, makes me want to hugh them. ...and I guess they never have a running nose either. ;-) Isn't the Australian fauna and flora just perfect? 

No comments:

Post a Comment