After a long winter, many Nova Scotians will be eager to head out for a hike this Easter weekend.
However, one expert warns all the snow the province received may have helped ticks survive the cold over the winter months.
According to Laura Ferguson, a biology professor with Acadia University, snowpack actually provides insulation and allows the insects to survive temperatures that would normally kill them off.
“It’s not going to reach those temperatures almost ever in the kinds of places where they’re seeking shelter in the winter,” she says, noting temperatures need to reach -10 C for extended periods of time to kill ticks. “Generally, they are finding areas that are going to be insulated and protected from getting that cold.”
Ferguson says that means as people head out on trails this weekend, they need to be cautious of ticks since there isn’t much to prevent ticks from coming out of hibernation hungry to find a host.
“Our ticks start to come out as soon as those temperatures start to warm up,” she says. “So everybody should be ready to do their tick checks after they’ve been out hunting for eggs in the woods and all those kinds of things.”
Ferguson adds its hard to predict but she doesn’t expect any fewer ticks in the province than what experts found last year.