MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Early winter usually means a break from ticks, but experts say the pests are persevering through winter in leaves and brush, waiting for an unassuming meal to walk by.
Bridget Baker’s Chihuahua, Brew, and his friend Luca love to explore the tall grass at Hubbard Park in Montpelier.
They went the whole year tick-free until Brew picked up two the other day. Baker chalks it up to the warm weather. “It’s usually so much colder, snow. I think that week it was like in the 60s, which is crazy for early November here,” she said.
Ticks typically prefer spring and fall, but state researchers say they’re expanding their range. “They say, ‘Well, is tick season over?’ It’s never really over in Vermont anymore,” said Patti Casey with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. She says warming winters — even just a few abnormally warm days — are enough to wake dormant ticks. “That’s all it takes for the ticks to become active. So, they’ll come out and start questing, and that provides an opportunity for a lot more ticks to be created.”
Ticks can cause a host of serious diseases in humans and animals if undetected.
They’re especially rampant in southwestern Vermont, which is slightly warmer than the rest of the state because of lower altitudes and more deer. Hungry ticks can latch on to deer for a free ride. Casey has also found more and more ticks in northern Vermont in recent years. “That’s a trend that we’re seeing that is concerning, and there’s not a lot we can do about it,” said Casey.
For Baker, it’s a wake-up call to keep her tick guard up, even in the winter. “Every time after walks, I’ve been getting in the car, checking him thoroughly, checking his blanket, checking the dogs that I walk much later than I’m used to,” said Baker.
If you get into the weeds this winter, experts say to keep your pets on tick meds, continue regular tick checks, and wear light-colored clothes tucked into socks or boots.