The mild winter has resulted in an early start to tick season in Kentucky. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service agents say the pests have been reported three to four weeks earlier than normal.
Here in western Kentucky, Graves County agricultural extension agent Kenny Perry says he's had calls about ticks for more than a month. UK College of Agriculture extension entomologist Lee Townsend says survival rates were probably higher among ticks due to the mild winter, and he says the warm spring has brought the bugs out sooner. The early start doesn’t necessary mean a greater risk of the tick-born Lyme disease; Kentucky’s two most common types do not carry the disease.
