Tick, Tock, TICKS!
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!
Like many of you, we have also noticed the rise of ticks in the New England area recently. 2025 in particular is set to be the worst year for ticks. As the majority of Due North Dogs’ business is hiking dogs on local trails around the south coast of Massachusetts, we’re here to tell you that the amount of ticks out there this year is no joke! This is absolutely the worst year that we’ve seen for ticks. Even on the most groomed trails the dogs are coming away with a few hitchhikers. At Due North, we are ramping up efforts to prevent ticks from making their way out of the woods and into your home. We’ve increased visual checks, are combing out the dogs after a hike, and offering to pray them down with natural insect repellant.
And even with that, it’s still incredibly hard to catch all of them. Unfortunately, with the climate warming the way it has in recent years, we’re not getting as long with the dropped temperatures. Longer and colder winters typically slows the tick’s cycle down. It doesn’t kill them, but it does send them dormant for longer. Which is what you want!
For a long time…
Lyme Disease, and the black-legged deer ticks that carry it, were in limited regions. But now, cases have been found as far away as Minnesota and Virginia.
Ticks thrive in warmer, humid conditions. Those kinds of conditions have grown longer and further north in the last few decades. That has given ticks the chance to extend their active cycle all the way into the fall. During the 1970’s you wouldn’t really see cases of Lyme until May. Today, cases are showing up as early as March in the New England area - that’s a huge jump! As our climate warms, the ticks have more opportunity to propagate. In addition to that, as wildlife habitats shrink deer and other wildlife end up in closer proximity to humans. Deer end up carrying the majority of black-legged ticks and providing them a place for their eggs.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
While bug sprays can help to reduce your risk (and your pet’s risk), the chances of ticks finding you are never zero. But you can reduce your chances. Wearing tight fitting clothes like leggings or compression underwear can take away some of the tick’s opportunity to find your skin. Tucking in your shirts or pants into your socks can help… Yes, I know how much of a hiking dork you would look like, but hey - it’s better than an infected tick bite.
It’s important that your pets have some kind of protection, your options include topical treatments like Frontline Plus, which I know many people have mixed feelings about because of the chemical content within the topical treatments. Whether or not you use a topical or chewable flea/tick treatment is up to you. There are other, more natural spray options as well like Wondercide which use essential oils. No matter what you decide, you and your pet should be using something to stay safe. Especially in 2025…
You also have options in your own yard as well. We would advise against harsh chemicals that are dangerous for pets, family members, and the environment in general. But by keeping a trim yard with few leaves, keeping firewood stacked away from high-traffic areas, and keeping low-hanging limbs trimmed higher than your pet’s height you can give yourself a slight advantage in this fight.
IN THE NEWS
The following is from Ian Prasad Philbrick’s article in the Boston Globe, I felt it was important enough to share here. Please feel free to read the entire story using the Source link below:
"Different tick species carry different types of bacteria and viruses, so the next step if you‘ve been bitten is to figure out what you‘re dealing with. Consult this visual guide (HERE) or send a photo to TickSpotters (HERE), Mather’s program at URI, which will identify the tick for you.
How long the tick has been there also matters. Ticks swell as they feed on your blood, so if you suspect it has, consider sending it to a lab that can test it for germs (LINK HERE). Just put the pest into a sealed zip-lock bag and overnight it.
In the northeast, about half of adult deer ticks carry germs that cause Lyme disease, so if you pull one of those off you, there’s a good chance you‘ve been exposed. Many cases of Lyme are mild and resolve quickly with the antibiotic doxycycline. But others can cause lasting fatigue, brain fog, or even brain inflammation and heart problems.
Lyme can be hard to diagnose, and some patients experience a dizzying array of symptoms (LINK HERE). “It is not a well understood phenomenon, and it’s also quite difficult to treat effectively,” Steere, of Harvard, said of such cases. A blood test can determine whether you have antibodies that indicate an infection.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
While it is important to be cautious about bites and always try to limit the worst of your exposure, try and remember that not every tick is infected and in many cases once they do bite you they have to stay in for awhile to transmit anything awful. So be vigilant, check yourself or your loved ones for ticks, shower when you come inside if you think your exposure has been high. And when in doubt, call your doctor’s office for advice when you do get bit.
If you’re looking to identify what some ticks are, the University of Rhode Island has an interactive field guide which can help you spot the different species of these six-legged brats. You can CLICK HERE for URI’s Field Guide to Ticks.
Sources: The Boston Globe (“After weeks in the ICU, they finally got a diagnosis: It was a tick bite” May 12, 2025)
The Boston Globe (“Tick season is in full swing. Here’s how to stay safe.” May 1, 2025)
