Why is There a Huge Tick Explosion in Berkshire County and Beyond?

The weather has been excellent and folks are enjoying all the Berkshires have to offer. From nature walks, hiking, fishing and swimming, summer is definitely here and we are loving it.

You may have noticed that some of these activities do come with a challenge as the tick population has been on an upTICK (see what I did there...lol). You may recall a couple of articles we included on our website over the past few weeks which included Berkshire County areas that were loaded with tick activity. We have included the two articles below:

• This Berkshire County Location is Packed with Mighty Ticks…Be Careful
• LOOK: 72 Ticks Pulled from Two Dogs Visiting This Berkshire Land Attraction

So, what is the reason for the tick explosion this year?

First of all, it's not just in the Berkshires. According to Pest Word.org the extremely heavy tick population is sweeping the country.

But Why?

Okay, okay. Pest World.org gave this as the reason in an article published a few months back:

Lack of acorns and the mild winter. You see, the the mild winter has allowed ticks, much like other insects to thrive and emerge earlier than usual. As for the acorns, oak trees produced an extremely large acorn crop in 2010, which led to a boom in the white-footed mouse population last year. As a result, the blacklegged (deer) tick population also increased because ticks had an abundance of mice to feed on when they hatched. However, this spring those same ticks will be looking for their next blood meal and since mice will be in short-supply, the ticks will turn to the next best thing - humans!

No, you're not imagining things. The tick population is up and 2021 appears to be the year of the tick. Be careful out there. You can get tick prevention tips and more by going here.