Ticks transmit diseases – to humans and pets! First of all Lyme disease, which can cause life-threatening organ damage. Since there is no vaccination as yet, caution is advised in the 2021 tick season.
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Tick season 2021
Ticks like warm temperatures. The warmer the days are, the more actively these small arachnids hunt for prey. In Germany, the period from April 1st to October 31st is generally considered the tick season. In 2021, from April up to and including October, an increased number of ticks must be expected.
Weather conditions can change tick time
Even if we know a time-defined tick season. Ticks don’t follow the calendar. Rather, only the temperature is decisive for them. In some years the weather shows its unreliable, not to say unpredictable side. This affects the start and end of the season for these stinging disease vectors.
- if it’s warm before April, the ticks don’t hesitate for long
- they lie in wait and stab at the next opportunity
- a very mild autumn can extend the tick season into November
For the year 2021, the specified period from April to October can only be used as a rough guide. Do not weigh yourself on the safe side before and after. To be on the safe side, some information sites even show the period from February to October as the season.
Ticks can be active all year round
Unfortunately, recent observations and studies allow the conclusion that the tick season in Germany is becoming longer and longer and that winter is no longer excluded. If the ground doesn’t freeze and the temperatures are warm enough, ticks wake up in winter or don’t even become rigid. In the past 20 years it has been observed that the tick period has increased by around two months on average. A trend that is unlikely to reverse in 2021, given the prophecies of global warming.
Check current tick activity on the Internet
It is unacceptable that we let these bloodsuckers and potential disease carriers spoil our time in the great outdoors all year round. Throwing yourself into danger thoughtlessly is not the solution either. Various websites can help, on which you can read where there is currently a risk of ticks and how high it is.
Tick time is not everywhere
When the 2021 season starts, some regions of the country will be badly affected, others hardly. Whether there is actually a real risk of ticks depends on where you are or want to travel. As a rule, the south of our country has then become a single major danger zone, while tick areas are occasionally identified here and there in the north. But even the affected region does not have to be avoided completely, because ticks have their favorite places. These can be circumvented in a targeted manner, thus reducing the risk of a tick bite many times over. “Tick time” is above all:
- in deciduous or mixed forest
- on forest clearings with grasses, herbs and bushes
- in the tall grass
- for example on unmown meadows
- on the overgrown roadside
- in parks and gardens
- in cemeteries and green spaces
