Hate the cold? So do bugs.

Despite flea and tick medication and meticulous tick inspections, my dog Jojo was bitten by a Lime diseased tick last summer. After some down time and doggy meds he was just fine. It was a wake up call for me as I like to hike in the woods all summer and admittedly didn't always dress tick preventative.

As Mainers look to escape cabin fever with cross country skiing and snowshoeing through the woods, their greeted with a rather tick free trek. The silver lining to this brutal cold is not the best baby makin' weather...for bugs.

The cold is also laying the smackdown on winter moth populations. Adult moths get to baby makin' at night from late November to early January when temps rise above freezing. Thankfully there wasn't many of those nights this year.

Winter moths have been spreading along coast for the past two years. The moths damage prized trees including maple, elm, apple, ash, crabapple, oak and cherry. The moths strip trees of their leaves in warmer spring weather, when their larvae hatch.

Even though moths are having a rough time, don't get tricked into a false sense of security. The tick population will rebound by spring and summer.

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