[TN-Bird] insecticide?

This is our 4th summer here in suburban southeast Davidson County, and we're 
having a MAJOR problem with ticks in our yard!  Aside from the creepy annoyance 
of finding a live animal attached to our flesh, this is a dangerous problem due 
to potential disease.
Today at Lowe's and Home Depot, i checked the insecticide products available 
for killing ticks in lawns - Spectricide, Bayer, and a couple other major brand 
names i can't remember now.  The cautions on the labels are SCARY.   If they 
are so toxic that humans have to immediately remove and launder any clothing 
that comes in contact with them (in addition to thoroughly washing any skin and 
throwing away any kitchen measuring utensil), how on earth could they be OK to 
spread on a lawn traversed by small animals???

We feed the birds year-round, and of course most of them feed on the ground at 
least part of the time.  I REALLY don't want us to have any more ticks on us, 
but i certainly don't want to harm the birds we're feeding.  (Now, the rabbits 
and the squirrels might be a different story...)

Has anyone successfully dealt with a tick infestation in a way only toxic to 
the ticks?  A friend said what we need are chickens, but that's not really a 
viable option for us.  I found a super-potent garlic spray advertised on the 
internet, but that seems somewhat iffy.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!
Sylvia Anglin
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                       MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

_____________________________________________________________

Other related posts: