Have you noticed the spread of tick borne diseases in warm climates? Well, the reason behind this is that climatic changes do affect the size of tick population. A good combination of warm and humid climate creates the best environment for tick development. It accelerates ticks development cycle and aids in the growth of ticks. Due to this, we often find the spread of Lyme disease and other tick borne diseases in summer season.
Following are the manners in which higher temperatures affect tick population:
- Paces up tick development life cycle
- Increases egg production in ticks
- Increases tick population density
How climate affects tick population?
Scientific data suggests that ticks can search for hosts only at temperatures higher than 7 degree Celsius. They use thermo-receptors to detect suitable climatic condition for themselves. Regions that have a good combination of temperate and humid zones are ideal for tick survival.
In addition, cooler climates affect ticks negatively as it decreases the number of nymph form of ticks. Nymph matures into an adult tick. Thus, it becomes important for immature stages of ticks to have a perfectly warm climate to grow and develop.
Risks of tick growth:
Increase in tick population also increases the chances of tick borne diseases like Lyme disease. Thus, warm weather is responsible for the spread of tick diseases. Pets also suffer from painful tick bites, scratching, itching, skin loss and lethargy.
How to prevent tick growth in warm weather?
- Various flea and tick preventives and tick treatments can be utilized to destroy tick population and block their further development.
- Popular treatments like Frontline Plus, Activyl and the likes are easy to use topical treatments. Check with the vet and use it for tick removal from your pet’s body.
- Pet parents must use tick treatments in cold climate to destroy ticks that may catch up the pet by any chance. When tick removal is practiced year round then there are chances of absolute tick control.
Conclusion:
It is obvious to find more ticks during warmer climates and the tick population reduces during cooler times. This suggests that density of tick population is directly proportional to the climatic conditions. So, be vigilant about the climatic changes as the ticks can creep in your pet’s body at any time of the year especially during warmer times.
