To round out the testing I looked at the E.P.A. registered repellants DEET ( people) and permethrin (dogs only)
DEET: Freshly sprayed, ticks moved to the opposite side of the container! A reaction I never saw before. 1 hour later they approached and diverted around the pad. In field 0 ticks on towel
Permethrin: Ticks avoided the pad both when freshly sprayed, 1 hour and even 5 days later. In field, 0 ticks on the towel.
In summary Ultrasonic : No effect seen
Essential Oil: Repellency seemed to last mere minutes*
E.P.A. registered products appeared effective.
*The strong odor associated with essential oil sprays may be a welfare concern since dog and cat's sense of smell is so sensitive.
** Clove oil is not recommended for cats, it is toxic. Unfortunately, the label didn't convey this and only cautioned to monitor cats after use.
Any products you'd like to see tested Comment below
The ticks have been working hard testing essential oil (EO) sprays for pets. Each EO is a complex mix of chemicals. To prevent adverse effects, they are used in diluted forms.
My ticks avoided the cloths when freshly sprayed, but that effect didn't seem to last very long. It seemed like once the alcohol from product A wore off it had limited if any repellency. They appeared to avoid product C for ~15 min. and B, the spray with the highest EO content a bit longer than that. Next up Field tests!
Product A 1 % Cedarwood Oil/ 1% Peppermint Oil Product B 4.5% Cedarwood Oil /1% Peppermint Oil Product C 0.7% Eugenol ( clove) 0.3 % Peppermint Oil
First up, an ultrasonic repellent tag. My ticks walked toward, onto and INTO the tag. For the field test I did twelve 10 min towel drags, six with the tag and six without. I caught 4 ticks without using the tag and 5 with using the tag. It seems there was minimal if any repellent effect.
