Ticks remain active anytime the temperature
rises above 30 degrees - which means owners need to stay vigilant
when outdoors with your dog even in the winter. In the summer
- when most people usually think about ticks - it is the nymph
stage of the Lyme Disease-carrying deer tick that is active.
But from late winter to early spring it is the adults that are
foraging and, after an inactive deep freeze with young'ns to
feed, the female ticks are hungry for blood meals. The American
Lyme Disease Foundation estimates that in the Northeast, 50-60
percent of deer ticks may be infected with Lyme Disease during
this time of year. (By the way, the common - and harmless dog
tick - is a larger, brownish-gray animal; the smaller deer tick
will swell to the size of a small black olive and is shiny black).
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