Tick numbers down?

[Yarg]

I started food planning in 2017 and the ticks are so bad I actually had them on me in April when they were still snow on the ground right through the October I pretty much had them on me every time I was out which was a lot.. I lost count but I'm sure I had over a hundred for the season.
2018 was a completely different story I had a total of six ticks on me the whole year and I was out more than ever so it was a huge decrease here in New York. was wondering if anyone experienced anything similar.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Similar for here in NE WI, ticks were way down this year compared to recent years. My guess was related to the oddball weather we got last April. In March we were already starting to warm up some and snow was all gone and ticks were coming out. After the first week in April we got cold and had three snowstorms in a row. The one in the middle of April dumped 29 inches on us. All told half our winter total for snow happened after winter was over!

I even stopped putting tick stuff on the dog this summer, didn't need it. Eventually started seeing them out again in the fall but still not too bad.

 

[ksgobbler]

I wish they were down. It was a bad year. I approached 100 in one outing.

 

[swat1018]

I don't mess with them, some nasty sickness from them. Treat your clothes with permethrin, you won't get bitten. On my land in NE MO, they are horrible around turkey/mushroom hunting time. Seems like they are gone by the 4th of July, never have figured that out. Maybe they have already found a host by then. The buck I killed was covered with them, they were bailing off left and right as I caped it.

 

[Mortenson]

I have always thought they were pretty much gone by 7/4 too. This year began what is probably a new trend of ticks all the way through fall. So now I guess we get to look forward to treated clothes all year long.

 

[rocksnstumps]

The buck I killed was covered with them, they were bailing off left and right as I caped it.

Ran across this story about ticks causing lots of mortality on moose calves. Yikes
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...ecent-years/dauUcCQOfnr90mzCytHVRJ/story.html

 

[NE PA QDM]

Still a ton here In PA this year. Mid to late summer they seem to go dormant for a bit, then they come back in the fall.
Fell in love w permethrin this year. If you are not yet using it check it out. SAFE and effective. Really great stuff. Cheap and easy to use and it lasts a while.

 

[Cap'n]

I know we had them as bad as I’ve seen them this spring in Okla... but for what ever reason they were not that bad as the summer continued. I have a unique perspective on ticks because I sell insecticides and talk to companies every day and see what they are ordering. I also used to have a lawn and landscape management company and sprayed properties monthly for fleas/ticks/&general pests. Ticks get started in February/March depends on weather. We have shot 2 does off our lease this year and they did not have many ticks. Hardly any in fact. Which surprised the crap out of me because they were terrible in the spring.
It is all so cyclical that I doubt it is anything more than a bumper crop of ticks due to a combo of environmental conditions from the past and present. It’s a good idea to soak your clothes in permethrin but make sure you have the right rate for the % of active ingredient to water.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Yes agree everything goes in cycles. Last ten years the deer ticks had been building numbers every year on my land. Prior to that was a moderate number of the bigger wood ticks and hardly any deer ticks. Now wood ticks are fairly uncommon. Hope the deer ticks take awhile to build back up again. Lots of factors besides weather of course. Had a bunch of logging done ten years ago which changed the heavy shading in my wooded areas to more light and growth. But I think mostly I have a lot more deer, predators, critters in general moving through with the ongoing habitat efforts that I have done. But the only thing that I have less now is squirrels. More critters is more ticks I guess.

 

[buckdeer1]

I have had rocky mountain and lyme,no fun use perimiathan I started off with ticks during early shed season then I go to the tiny ticks late summer.We hardly turkey hunt anymore because of them.I heard they do studies by laying a white sheet out and putting dry ice on it and it attracts them so they can count.

 

[Rubee]

The tick population was down quite a bit in my area this year (NE lower peninsula of Michigan ). Not sure why but I noticed a drop in mice and chipmunk numbers also. We also had a rough March and April with several snow storms. I think I read the rodents are hosts to ticks and spread them along with deer.

 

[ksgobbler]

Tick populations follow mice. We had a bumper acorn crop in 2016 and the nymph stage takes a couple years so this year was very bad.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

In western Mass. ticks were the worst I've ever seen back in the spring. And then nothing. They went through that typical summer lull and then never came back in the fall.

I agree with permethrin. I keep a pair of field pants hanging in the the garage. I spray them down well and each time I take a walk with my dogs or out onto the land I quickly throw them on.

 

[JFK52]

I had exactly one tick on me this year. No ticks dropped off deer that we skinned indoors. Definitely a down year for ticks in South Central Wisconsin.