Ticks are bad this year and that means those of us who love hiking and camping need to take extra care. In parts of the US that saw a warm winter like the northeast (sorry skiers), ticks spent less time dormant and that gave them more time to reproduce, meanwhile their hosts like deer remained more active too, so they got more winter traveling in. And if you’re wondering, yes, global warming will also mean an uptick in ticks. All of that’s a concern since ticks can be carriers of Lyme disease, while here in the UK, 2023 has seen the arrival of tick-borne encephalitis virus, a potentially deadly disease that’s long been common in Europe.
The best defense against ticks is to avoid them in the first place, though that’s easier said than done when you love nothing more than trekking across country, pitching your tent under the stars or stripping off in the long grass to take a refreshing wild swim in an icy lake. I, for one, have no intention of quitting the outdoors this season, but I am extra aware of ticks – we’ve already had to remove one from our 14 year-old and I’m not keen to repeat that experience if I can avoid it.
