SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Believe it or not, we're now in tick season.
We wanted to know if our roller coaster weather would have any impact on just how many we'll see this year.
We thought possibly the long snowy winter would help us out this year, but experts say no.
"It probably won't kill off any of the ticks, but it might just slow them down a little bit. They might go back undercover for a little bit and then come back out when its warmer,” Metropolitan Mosquito Control District spokesman Alex Carlson says.
However, what might help us out is the drought over the last few years.
"The drought over the last two years could mean slightly fewer ticks this year, just because they haven't had as much moisture, so not as many of them have survived the winter,” Carlson explains.
But that's just a theory.
Time will tell whether the drought conditions will actually lead to fewer ticks this year.
Tick specialists say peak tick season is May and June, but they often hang around until October, even early November if it's warm enough.
Veterinarians say now is a good time to apply that first dose of flea and tick control on your pet.
“This is the time of year where almost all of the stray animals that we have coming in have ticks and certainly the dogs in particular have a lot of ticks,” Animal Humane Society Veterinarian Kate Farmer says.
Flea and tick control comes in two formats, the edible tablets are given once a month and must be prescribed by a vet.
The topical version can be purchased over the counter and is also applied once a month.
"Lyme disease is very common in dogs. When I was in private practice, I saw it all the time and dogs can get very sick from it. The other thing that can happen is they can bring those ticks into your house and then those ticks can bite you too,” Farmer says.
And these days there are a lot of products and inventions out there that claim to help you with ticks, but experts say some of the most effective strategies are also the most simple.
These simple preventative measures include tucking your pants into your socks to prevent the ticks from climbing up your leg, wearing bug spray, and checking yourself, your family and your pets for ticks before you go back inside.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.