May Brings Ticks Along With Showers

Experts have warned that our unseasonably warm temperatures now and upcoming, along with changes in the food supply for ticks will make for a "robust" tick season and strong potential for increase in Lyme diseases cases this year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted more than 30,000 confirmed or probable cases of Lyme in 2010, the latest data available, amounting to 250,000+ since the late 1990s. Also of concern is Wisconsin's placement as one of the 12 states that report more than 90 percent of Lyme disease cases. (The others were Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.)

Muskego's Safeway Pest Management has already been hearing about the pesky (and let's face it - icky - bugs) this year, but feel the cooler April has worked in our favor.

"The tick season has started, but we are unsure if it has peaked yet," said Danielle Fornal with Safeway. "We are guessing that the temperatures haven't been quite high enough yet and that the outbreak will be as bad or worse than last year."

Fornal said you don't need to be hiking through dense woods to bring any home, either. "They can lurk in open lawn, as well as in wooded areas," she explained. "The best thing people can do is to do 'tick checks' on their animals and children after they have been outside in the yard or woods."

To further reduce the unwelcome 'passengers' on you or your pets, experts also suggest:

• Reduce standing water to eliminate mosquito threats, including those underneath and around downspouts, in plant saucers and dog bowls.

• Toss excess grass, leaves, piles, fire wood.

• Turn over larger items like children’s sandboxes, wagons or plastic toys.

• If tarps stretched over firewood piles, boats or sports equipment aren’t taut, they’re holding water. Remove them.

• Utilize a mosquito elimination barrier treatment around the home and yard. Using a barrier treatment at home reduces the need for using DEET-containing bug spray. Mosquito Squad’s eliminates up to 90% of the mosquitoes and ticks on a property.