Mary Allen
Ticks are nasty little insects and something everyone wants to avoid, both dogs and dog owners. In addition to being disgusting bloodsuckers, they can spread dangerous diseases to both bipeds and quadrupeds. But they do not like heat and drought.
The Ticks Escape the Heat
An extremely hot, dry summer is difficult in many ways for both humans and animals, but it is actually extra difficult for the tick, which thrives best in humid environments. So no evil that has no good with it. When it is too hot, the tick burrows into the soil to get moisture and shade, instead of sitting on a blade of grass and waiting for a suitable host to come by.
Ticks Can Be Without Food for a Year
Unfortunately, ticks are hardy animals, the fact is that an adult tick can live as long as a year without food, so if it feels bad they can bite their time down at the ground, to crawl up again after the winter to look for someone to suck blood off. If the weather becomes more tick-friendly in September-October, there is also a risk that those who have been lying down and pressed during the summer will crawl forward instead.
Hot Summer and Cold Winter Disadvantage Ticks
However, the newly hatched tick larvae are sensitive to drought as they do not have the same ability to crawl into the soil and protect themselves. So hopefully the extremely long period without rain and with high temperatures in the summer of 2021 has meant that fewer dogs and people have got ticks. And there is hope that the number of ticks will be fewer next year. Especially if we also get a very cold winter without snow. Then many ticks strike.