Can you get Lyme disease in the fall or winter?

It is obviously possible to be bitten by a Lyme-infected tick in warm fall and winter climates. But can you get Lyme disease in cold weather?

The notion that you can only be bitten by a tick when it’s hot outside is not based in fact. Adult ticks are most active in the fall and can be after fall too. Especially those, which have not sated their required end-of-fall blood meal. This means that when you are out in nature for an extended period of time in the winter, you really should perform a tick check, just like you would during the spring and summer. You can be bitten by a tick any time of year, and therefore, can contract Lyme disease in the fall or winter.

Why do adult ticks require a blood meal to overwinter?

Adult female ticks seek their end-of-season blood meal to fertilize her eggs, which she will take care of once she goes into dormancy for the sustained cold winter months. Then, in springtime, she will lay a new generation of her evil spawn. When these tick eggs become larvae, they take on their first blood meal, many times onboarding Lyme bacteria from their host.

Ticks can be on the move year-round.

Fact is, if temperatures do not get down to a sustained temperature of 35-45°F, black-legged ticks might remain active. It takes frigid temperatures and even snow cover to make them stay put. And if you think that extended periods of cold weather and heavy snow will send these deer ticks to their graves, think again. They will cozy up within the nests of their woodland friends and will sustain until the weather is more favorable.

That’s why it’s important to have year-round tick control.

The black-legged tick is hearty enough to survive long, cold winters, but they are not match with Mosquito Squad’s year-round tick control. Our tick tubes are made specifically to work in the “off-season” by infiltrating the nests, where ticks bed down – or at the very least where their blood hosts bed down. A simple biodegradable tube filled with tick-eliminating cotton is a powerful weapon in the fight against growing tick populations around your home.

While ticks and humans are less active in winter, getting a tick bite is not an impossibility during the cold weather months. Be sure when you do venture out into the woods, be vigilant in making sure you find a tick if it happens to find you. And if you suspect you might have been bitten by an infected tick, do not hesitate to seek medical attention.

For year-round tick protection, enlist your local tick control army, Mosquito Squad of Leominster. Call us today at (978) 321-2670.