ST PAUL, Minn. — This warmer weather is bringing out the bugs.
This week a supervisor with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) discovered a deer tick in Dakota County and decided to post the picture on social media.
That picture brought in thousands of views, likes and comments.
MMCD spokesman Alex Carlson says seeing ticks this early in the season is incredibly unusual.
"I was looking at our records and it looks like in 2020 on March 4 we started finding ticks and that was still pretty early, but February is the earliest I can remember,” Carlson says.
And now that they're out, are the ticks here to stay?
"They will probably be out the next couple of days as long as it stays warm. So, people need to be cautious."
Carlson says the ticks are hungry so they will bite humans and pets.
Veterinarians at the Animal Humane Society are encouraging pet owners to give their dogs a dose of flea and tick medicine to keep them safe.
"People need to start taking the precautions they would take in May right now."
Carlson says the ticks could go back into hibernation if the temps dip below freezing, as for the spring and summer, he says we could face a bad year.
"The more mild the winter is the more of them will survive into the spring,” Carlson says.
That's the bad news. The good news is we may see fewer mosquitos.
"The biggest factor for mosquitos is precipitation and we just haven't had a lot of snow this winter,” Carlson says.
Besides ponds and wetlands, mosquitos don't have a lot of standing water this year to hatch their eggs.
But that could change.
"It's still very early on in the season. We could get a big spring snowstorm or rainstorm and that could change that."
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