NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Experts say Massachusetts is experiencing one of the worst tick seasons in years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been 125 tick bites per 100,000 emergency room visits in the Northeast this year alone. That's a 43% increase from 2024.
"I think last year, maybe once. I don't even remember if there were any on her last year. This year, it's every day," said Jake of North Attleboro.
It's so bad, Jake and his furry companion now have a nightly routine to deal with the intrusive critters.
"I get my tick kit. And in my tick kit, there's an ash tray, a pair of tweezers and a lighter. I must take off two, sometimes three ticks a night."
Read More: Experts Predict An Uptick In Rodents, Ticks This Spring In Boston
According to Mass.gov, while tick activity depends on the weather, their activity peaks between March and April and lasts through August and again between October and November.
Outdoor activities put pets and their owners at high risk of exposure. Ticks usually live in grassy, wooded and brushy areas, something that Erin of North Attleboro has discovered through personal experience with her dog Macy.
"We do walk in the town forest but we're not going through a lot of brush. But it's the high grass and the brush is where we usually notice."
To prevent tick bites, officials suggest using insect repellant that contains an EPA-registered ingredient like permethrin or DEET, wear light-colored clothing to spot the ticks more easily, conduct daily tick checks and promptly and properly remove an attached ticks with tweezers before jumping into the shower. Tick-borne illnesses include Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi, and the Powassan virus.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.