It was a cold, wet winter, followed by a quick warm thaw for the Northland. This weather has created the ideal conditions for ticks and mosquitoes to thrive.
The CDC has been tracking the Human Powassan Virus (POW) for the last decade. While it is rare, some of the highest reported number of cases have been from Minnesota & Wisconsin.
While we try to make the most of the precious few months of warm weather the Northland gets each year, the CDC is reminding the public to be vigilant and take precautions to avoid ticks and the nasty diseases they can carry.
The mosquitoes were pretty bad last weekend. We were at the cabin in Northern Minnesota, so it's pretty much always bad. Every trip up I pick up a can of family bug spray, usually with the less amount of DEET to apply to the kids. I usually get a higher concentrated DEET bug spray for the adults. We usually get quite a few bug bites anyway. This time we tried something all natural to see how
I spent Fourth Of July Weekend at the lake, where I discovered a couple of deer ticks climbing on me. When I returned home, I mowed the lawn and there were a couple more I had to flick off. I hadn't had a problem with them yet this year, but now they seem to be finding me. If you find yourself in the same situation, you'll appreciate these deer tick bite prevention tips.
It’s play-outside season for all of us now, finally, and with new reports that more deer ticks survived the winter, we need to arm ourselves with the facts about Lyme disease.
A new report indicates that there is likely a larger population of deer ticks this season, meaning there are more tiny carriers of Lyme disease to look out for.
I read on Facebook that a friend had been hiking in the woods for Mother's Day and found a wood tick crawling on his sock. EWWWW! With the anticipation of spring and summer comes the realization we need to protect our pets from fleas and ticks. There are several different options, however I don't have a choice. Due to two unfortunate incidents that occurred after my dog got shots at the vet, w