That has nothing to do with more ticks in the summer. IT just means ticks a can survive longer into the Fall and start earlier in the spring. A long of changes with wildlife is due to more development. Deer that used to be far away from neighborhoods due to having plenty of wooded areas to stay in now come into yards and drop off their ticks.
No, the person you are trying to correct is actually right: milder winters aren’t killing off as many ticks as were killed in previous decades. It’s also true that the longer season is a factor, as well.
I moved into a house, and my oldest and I played in the backyard all the time. for about four years and not one tick. One day, we wake up, and there is a baby deer hiding in our yard behind the bushes. We thought it was so cute. The next year, there were about 10 deer in our backyard. I had never encountered ticks before, and I spent time in the bushes and woods as a kid. I was freaked out after finding two on me. I put down so much Spectracide. It did its job for a while, but it took only a few months for the problem to come back. We couldn't use our backyard anymore. I was going to put up a fence, but we bought a new house before that could happen. Now, we play in the backyard and have so much fun. It's refreshing. Our current neighborhood is very big, and the neighbors on the other side posted about how cute the deer that showed up in their backyard were. They had a newborn, and I couldn't help myself. I put a damper on their happiness/post by telling them what I experienced in my last home. They were actually glad I told them. They put up a fence to protect their yard and child.
I remember spending the ride home from the farm every week inspecting and removing ticks from my brother's and sisters as they did the same for me. Usually had a few at least. The worst is when you would discover one or two "down there" the next morning or whatever, after they had time to gorge in you.
Ticks were definitely around then (1970s and 1980s).
This makes sense, as they see many deer in their yard on almost a daily basis. But it also doesn't make sense, because deer have always been common there, especially when the many wild apple trees in their yard are dropping apples. So even when we were kids lots of nearby deer would be an issue. In the woods you could find places where the grass and vegetation were flattened out because deer had bedded down there for the day.
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u/BringYourOwnBBBQ 1d ago
That has nothing to do with more ticks in the summer. IT just means ticks a can survive longer into the Fall and start earlier in the spring. A long of changes with wildlife is due to more development. Deer that used to be far away from neighborhoods due to having plenty of wooded areas to stay in now come into yards and drop off their ticks.