adult ticks can be active in temperatures as low as 28 degrees F.

[Guest guest]

Kendra, thank you so much for these very informative articles. Here in NY, we

tend to think ticks are beginning to become active only in the warmer spring

weather. It pays to be vigilant all year round!

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kendra,

I live in the U.K ,very few Dr's believe you can get bit in cooler weather I

without a doubt got bit in the UK and even our Summers here do not get very hot.

Thanks for the article,

Diane.

On 24 Mar 2011, at 05:49, " kendra zoa " <kendraz@...> wrote:

> 2 years ago during a warm winter, my son got deer tick bite with positive w

> blot in FEBRUARY IN WISCONSIN!

> I couldn't believe it. Searched web and found info that indicates in some

> areas deer tick seem to be becoming more hardy to cold, lower temp, active

> earlier. Also, whenever temps get almost to freeze or above, which means any

> sunny day all winter where snow cover is not 100%, ticks will start moving!

> So any south facing slope or hillside with no snow on sunny day in winter

> could have active ticks. (unfortunately, can't now find links to source for

> this info.)

>

> " Deer ticks are among the first ticks to become active in the spring " iowa

> public health

>

> " deer ticks don't wait for spring to become active. The larger adult stage

> deer ticks that were left over from the fall (didn't find a host) emerge

> from under the snow as soon as the ground thaws. They can be active anytime

> the temperature is above or even close to freezing as long as the ground is

> not frozen or covered with snow. It is common at this time of year for adult

> deer ticks to be quite active-they climb up shrubby vegetation about

> knee-high and hope to latch on if a host comes by. In NJ, by late

> March/early April, you may also begin finding Lone Star tick adults and

> adult stage dog ticks. "

> http://www.tickencounter.org/FAQ

>

> from the tick identification

> laboratory in Penn State's entomology department

>

> s warned that without snow cover, these adult ticks can be active in

> temperatures as low as 28 degrees F. " You could be hunting in a place,

> sitting on a log -- which actually would be one of the worst places to be --

> as the sun comes up and the temperature rises, " s warned. " It could be

> 30 degrees, and ticks could crawl off that log or from vegetation

> surrounding you. You may not think that ticks would be a problem when it's

> so cold, but in fact they can be active. "

>

> Hunters also could encounter ticks on any deer they harvest. " Male ticks

> will stay with deer over the winter, " said s. " It becomes sort of a

> 'singles bar' for ticks, with the males waiting for the off-chance of

> finding a female hanging around to reproduce with.

>

> " If you find crawling arthropods on the stomach or between the hind legs of

> a deer, those are likely to be biting flies or 'deer keds,' which drop their

> wings and attach to feed, " he continued. " But if you find what appear to be

> ticks around the ears, eyes and neck, there's a good chance they're deer

> ticks, which then could crawl onto people or pets. "

>

>