Ticks spread Lyme disease and other serious illnesses to people and pets. The good news? These parasites have plenty of natural enemies.
This article covers what eats ticks, from the most effective hunters to animals that only snack on them occasionally. You’ll learn which creatures actually help control tick populations and which ones are more hype than help. Plus, we’ll bust one popular myth about opossums that keeps spreading on social media.
1. Guinea Fowl
Guinea fowl are the best birds for tick control. These football-shaped African birds with tiny heads actively hunt for ticks instead of just eating whatever bugs they stumble across.
They walk around with their heads down and tails up, searching for ticks in grass and vegetation. When they find one, they snatch it up and swallow it whole. A single guinea fowl can eat thousands of ticks per year.
Research confirms they really do reduce adult tick populations where they roam. However, guinea fowl come with challenges. They’re extremely loud, harder to manage than chickens, and often prefer roosting in trees where predators can get them. They also attract ticks themselves. Guinea fowl work best on farms and large properties where noise won’t bother neighbors.
2. Fire Ants
Fire ants are surprisingly effective tick killers, especially in the southern United States. They swarm blood-filled female ticks, tear them apart, and feast on tiny tick hatchlings.
Research shows a clear pattern: areas with lots of fire ants have fewer ticks. One 1970s study found that places treated to kill fire ants became tick havens. Scientists have even noticed this affects human health. People in fire ant territory get alpha-gal syndrome (a tick-caused meat allergy) less often because fire ants keep lone star tick numbers down.
Unfed ticks have a defense though. They freeze and release chemicals that make fire ants lose interest. Only engorged ticks get attacked. The big problem? Fire ants themselves are dangerous. Their stings cause serious pain and allergic reactions, plus they’re invasive species that harm native wildlife.
3. Chickens
Chickens are the most popular backyard option for natural tick control. They peck at the ground all day, eating bugs including ticks. When actively foraging, chickens can eat about 81 ticks per hour.
The catch? Chickens don’t eat enough ticks to seriously reduce overall populations. Research shows they definitely munch on these parasites, but the impact stays limited. They also attract ticks themselves since the birds can become hosts.
Still, chickens work better than many animals on this list. They’re quieter than guinea fowl (especially hens), easier to manage, legal in most suburban areas, and provide fresh eggs. Free-range chickens covering more ground will encounter and eat more ticks. For smaller properties, chickens make a reasonable compromise even if they won’t eliminate your tick problem.
4. Wild Turkeys
Wild turkeys eat around 200 ticks per day while foraging through forests and fields. Sounds impressive! Unfortunately, turkeys are generalist feeders that prefer larger prey like grasshoppers over tiny ticks.
Research shows wild turkeys have limited impact on tick populations. They eat ticks when they happen across them, but not enough to make a real difference. Wild turkeys also serve as tick hosts themselves, potentially spreading ticks as they wander.
The biggest limitation? You can’t use wild turkeys for tick control. These are wild animals you can’t domesticate or keep in your yard like chickens. If they visit your property, they’ll eat some ticks, but you can’t count on them showing up.
5. Squirrels and Chipmunks
Squirrels and chipmunks don’t hunt for ticks, but they’re surprisingly good at killing them. They act as “ecological traps” for ticks.
These rodents groom themselves constantly. When they find a tick on their fur, they pull it off and eat it. Research shows they kill 83% to 96% of ticks that try to feed on them. Since they spend all day in tick habitat, they encounter way more ticks than most predators do.
The complicated part? Squirrels and chipmunks also serve as tick hosts. Some ticks successfully feed before getting groomed away. That remaining 10% can drop off and lay thousands of eggs. They’re already in your yard doing their part automatically, killing lots of individual ticks even while helping maintain tick populations.
6. Frogs and Toads
Frogs and toads eat ticks when they get the chance, using their long sticky tongues to snatch them up. Toads do a better job than frogs because they spend more time on land where ticks live. Frogs stay near water where they rarely encounter ticks.
The main limitation? These amphibians aren’t specialized tick hunters. They eat whatever insects they find. Since ticks are small and don’t move much compared to flies or beetles, they’re not a major part of the amphibian diet.
Frogs and toads might catch a few hundred ticks over a season, but that won’t change overall numbers much. If you have damp areas on your property, you probably already have some around doing their small part.
7. Lizards
Lizards in southern and western states eat ticks as part of their regular insect diet. The Western fence lizard deserves special mention because chemicals in its blood can kill Lyme disease bacteria inside ticks that feed on it! This means those ticks are much less likely to spread Lyme disease later.
Some research found lizards can consume up to 95% of ticks in areas with dense lizard populations. Fast-moving lizards like skinks catch tiny tick larvae as they scurry across the forest floor.
The big limitation? Geography. Northern states don’t have many lizards because these cold-blooded reptiles need warm temperatures. Even in lizard territory, they can’t patrol large properties. If you live where lizards are common, they’re quietly reducing tick numbers in their immediate areas.
8. Spiders
Various spider species eat ticks, but they’re not very effective at tick control. Wolf spiders, jumping spiders, and some house spiders are most likely to catch ticks through active hunting or low-to-ground webs.
Web-building spiders high on walls rarely eat ticks because ticks can’t fly or climb very high. The main problem? Spiders are generalist predators that eat all kinds of bugs. They don’t specifically hunt ticks.
Scientists using chemical markers found very few spiders actually consume ticks. Out of 252 arthropod samples in one study, only seven showed evidence of eating tick nymphs. If you have spiders around, they might occasionally eat a tick or two, but don’t count on them for tick control.
9. Opossums
Time to bust a myth! Social media claims opossums devour 5,000 ticks per season. This is completely false.
In 2021, scientists examined 32 wild opossum stomachs under microscopes and found zero ticks. They reviewed 23 scientific papers studying over 1,280 opossums. Not one study found ticks in opossum stomachs, digestive tracts, or droppings.
The “5,000 ticks” claim came from a 2009 lab study where captive opossums in cages were infested with ticks. Researchers assumed missing ticks were eaten, but captive opossums groom obsessively because they have nothing else to do. Wild opossums are busy traveling and foraging. The study also never checked if ticks were still embedded in the skin.
This myth spread because people wanted it to be true. Opossums are still beneficial animals that eat other pests and clean up dead animals. They just don’t eat ticks. Stop sharing those memes!
10. Ants (Other Than Fire Ants)
Various ant species like wood ants and carpenter ants will eat ticks when they encounter them, but they’re nowhere near as effective as fire ants.
Research on red wood ants in Europe found areas with these ants had fewer ticks. Carpenter ants are strong enough to carry off adult ticks and prefer engorged ones since the blood provides better nutrition.
The limitation? Most ants are opportunistic hunters that eat a huge variety of foods. Ticks are just one tiny part of their diet. Having healthy ant populations probably helps reduce tick numbers a little bit, but you shouldn’t count on regular ants to solve a tick problem.
11. Other Insects and Arthropods
Many small creatures eat ticks occasionally without specializing in tick hunting.
Rove beetles and ground beetles scurry through leaf litter where ticks live, attacking them with powerful mandibles. Ladybugs eat about 60 ticks per day when they come across them, though they prefer aphids. Centipedes are fast venomous hunters especially good at catching engorged tick larvae. Dragonflies occasionally eat ticks but mostly catch flying insects.
All these predators prefer engorged ticks over tiny unfed ones because blood-filled ticks provide better nutrition and are easier to spot. The combined impact of multiple species might add up, but none will make a noticeable difference individually. They’re all part of an ecosystem that keeps tick populations from exploding even higher.
12. Raccoons
Raccoons groom themselves constantly and eat any ticks they find on their fur. This happens regularly since raccoons wander through tick habitat.
The problem? They only eat ticks on their own bodies, and each raccoon can only clean its own fur. Raccoons also serve as tick hosts. A raccoon might eat 50 ticks but if 100 ticks feed successfully on that same raccoon, the net effect is still more ticks in the environment.
Raccoons provide other benefits like eating lawn-damaging grubs and cleaning up carrion. But don’t count on them for tick control. Their grooming helps them personally without doing much for your yard’s overall tick problem.
13. Ducks and Geese
Ducks and geese eat ticks while foraging through grass and vegetation near water. Ducks can eat hundreds of ticks in a day when conditions are right, pecking at the ground constantly and scooping up bugs they encounter.
These waterfowl work well for areas with standing water where you have both mosquito and tick problems. However, they’re less effective than chickens or guinea fowl because they spend lots of time in water where there are no ticks. They focus mainly on plants and aquatic invertebrates rather than actively seeking ticks.
Ducks and geese need water features to thrive and can be messy with frequent droppings. If you already have them for eggs or enjoyment, they’re eating some ticks as a bonus. Just don’t get waterfowl expecting them to solve a tick problem.
14. Quail
Quail are small ground-feeding birds that eat ticks as part of their normal foraging. They stick their heads into tall grass and vegetation, plucking bugs off leaves and stems.
The main problem? Most people can’t keep quail. They’re much harder to manage than chickens, easily stressed, fly well, and need special housing. Wild quail populations have declined in many areas, so you can’t count on them being around.
Quail are also small birds that eat far fewer ticks than chickens. For most homeowners, chickens or guinea fowl make more practical choices. If you live where wild quail are common, they’re eating some local ticks, but they’re not practical for intentional tick control.
15. Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers use their long sticky tongues to catch insects, including ticks crawling on tree trunks and branches. Downy and hairy woodpeckers are common backyard visitors that will eat any ticks they encounter while foraging.
The limitation is obvious: woodpeckers spend most time in trees while ticks mainly hang out in leaf litter, low vegetation, and grass. The two don’t overlap much. Woodpeckers might catch ticks that climb trees, but most ticks never make it up there.
Attracting woodpeckers with suet feeders is great for bird watching and controlling tree-damaging insects. Just don’t expect them to impact your property’s tick population significantly.
16. Oxpeckers
Oxpeckers are African songbirds that live on large mammals like cattle, buffalo, and giraffes. They cling to animals with sharp claws and pluck ticks directly from the host’s skin. A small flock can clean hundreds of ticks off a single animal in hours.
Unfortunately, oxpeckers only live in Africa. You can’t use them for tick control outside their native range. Cattle egrets in North America have similar behavior, eating insects around livestock, but they’re not nearly as specialized or effective.
Why include them? They show what’s possible when a bird truly specializes in eating parasites as its primary food source. They’re the ultimate example of what eats ticks professionally.
Closing Thoughts
After reviewing 16 animals that eat ticks, the truth is clear: natural predators help but aren’t enough to solve serious tick problems alone.
Guinea fowl are most effective if you can handle their challenges. Fire ants make huge impacts but bring their own dangers. Chickens provide moderate help plus fresh eggs. Everything else eats only small numbers of ticks or has major limitations.
The biggest myth? Opossums don’t eat ticks at all despite what social media claims. Recent science proves this conclusively.
For real tick control, use multiple approaches together. Mow lawns short, clear brush and leaf litter, create barriers between woods and lawns, and use proven repellents. Professional tick treatment remains most effective for serious infestations.
Natural predators play supporting roles in the ecosystem, preventing tick numbers from being even higher. Just don’t expect any animal to completely eliminate ticks from your property.
