08/22/2026
A toilet paper roll can actually help kill ticks before they ever make it onto a deer, or a hunter.
They’re called tick tubes. The small cardboard tubes contain cotton treated with permethrin. mice grab the cotton and carry it back to their nests, where the permethrin gets onto their fur and kills ticks feeding on them. Mice are one of the most important reservoirs for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Young blacklegged ticks feed on infected mice, pick up the bacteria and can later transmit it to people and other animals.
A Penn State study found blacklegged ticks were eliminated from mice after tick tubes were deployed, while a newer study found the tubes significantly reduced tick burdens on mice within a single season. Researchers also found mice used more of the treated cotton over time and that the tubes generally needed replenished about once a month. They aren’t a magic solution, but as one part of a larger tick-control strategy, this incredibly simple idea may actually help.
— Stephen Ziegler
Outdoor writer | Rack Junkies Podcast
