Maine’s Fall Forecast: Ticks are Making a Big Seasonal Comeback

We've enjoyed a little break from the 8-legged jerks.

Obviously, circumstances are different statewide, but in all the places I go most often with my dog, we've enjoyed a little respite from ticks. I hadn't really seen one since the middle of July. At least not in big numbers. I remember this past Spring, they were absolutely out of control. So I was definitely looking forward to the summer lull.

And it eventually came. My dog was up to his eyeballs in tall grass, traipsing through anything he wanted, and I hadn't seen a single one in weeks. Again, you may have seen them here or there, but everyone I've talked to agreed it got pretty quiet for a while. Sometimes when things get quiet, you start to relax. Maybe even a bit too much.

The ticks aren't messing around now.

It was literally like a switch went off. For weeks, the somewhat dry weather and fairly steady temps made the ticks kind of go into hiding. Between dry weather and people mowing their lawns, they lost a lot of habitat and things were nice. Now that we're seeing cooler nights, the ground isn't drying out as quickly, so here they come.

It's nuts. Just yesterday, I pulled a half dozen off my dog in the span of a 30 minute walk. And we didn't go anywhere different. Just the same spots we've always gone for the last several weeks. But man... the ticks are here now.

What can you do?

I feel like this subject has been answered over and over. Not because people don't get it, but because they're such a non-stop problem once they get going. You can have you yard sprayed, and that helps quite a bit. You can protect yourself with long pants and socks, etc. And your pets just need either a collar or a medicine of some kind.

At the end of the day, nobody wants Lyme Disease. Or any one of the other diseases you get from all the other kinds of ticks. Same goes for your pets. You don't wan them to get Lyme or anything else either. So just know that you've been warned. Not that you probably didn't know already. But here we go again...

Here's a few solid ways you can' start protecting yourself right now...