{"id":368,"date":"2026-05-14T20:05:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=368"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:05:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T20:05:43","slug":"colorados-tick-season-worse-than-normal-after-mild-winter-researchers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=368","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s tick season worse than normal after mild winter, researchers say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tick season arrived in Colorado with a bang this year, starting both earlier and with stronger populations after the state\u2019s mild winter, researchers say.<\/p>\n

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Colorado\u2019s tick season usually starts around March or April, said Dr. Chris Roundy, a public health entomologist for the state Department of Public Health and Environment. But ticks emerged earlier than normal this year and have been more active, he said.<\/p>\n

The winter months typically help bottleneck Colorado\u2019s tick population, but this season\u2019s abnormal weather allowed the small parasites to get a head start on looking for hosts, Roundy said. Colorado\u2019s tick population also boomed during the wet spring of 2023 \u2014 a population increase that\u2019s still hanging on because the parasite\u2019s lifecycle spans several years.<\/p>\n

After hatching from their eggs, ticks spend the first few seasons of their life feeding on small animals, like rodents or birds, Roundy said. That\u2019s usually when they\u2019re exposed to pathogens.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they\u2019re infected, unfortunately, they stay infected for their entire life cycle,\u201d Roundy said. \u201cAs they emerge into adults, they\u2019re still infected and they go looking for a larger host. This may be a deer or an elk, this may be our dogs or this may be us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The risk of getting infected by a tick starts as soon as they latch on and start to take a \u201cblood meal,\u201d UCHealth\u2019s senior director of infection prevention, Dr. Michelle Barron, said. Infection isn\u2019t automatic and usually happens over the course of a few days, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you find a tick, the first thing you want to do is try to remove it as quickly as possible,\u201d Barron said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s been there, the potential risk of you having an infection goes up a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ticks are small and can often be overlooked as a mole or piece of dirt before they start moving, so Coloradans should carefully check themselves after being outdoors in tick territory, she said. Barron recommended using tweezers to remove ticks or coating the parasites with clear nail polish, which will eventually cause them to fall off. No matter how it\u2019s removed, it\u2019s important to get the head, she said.<\/p>\n

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The primary risk in Colorado comes from two closely related species: the American dog tick, most often found in the foothills and eastern Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain wood tick, which typically lives in the mountains and western Colorado, Roundy said.<\/p>\n

Both tick species live for several years and can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Colorado tick fever, Roundy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the diseases that people are most at risk for here in Colorado, though they are rare,\u201d he said. \u201cWe only see a few cases a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not impossible for other tick-related diseases to emerge, especially as migration patterns shift and ticks \u2014 including the black-legged tick, which carries Lyme disease \u2014 expand their geographic range, Roundy said. There\u2019s also a chance that travelers who visit other parts of the country can bring infected ticks back home with them.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s rare that someone needs medical treatment for a tick bite in Colorado, but not unheard of, Barron said. People worried about a bite or symptoms can talk to their medical provider about where and when they were bitten to determine if treatment is necessary.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe first symptoms are almost always going to be flu-like symptoms,\u201d Roundy said. \u201cA headache, sometimes a fever, a rash, achiness, tiredness \u2014 those will be the first symptoms that might be a cue that someone has one of these tick-borne diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, how does one avoid getting infected by a tick?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we live in Colorado, so staying indoors isn\u2019t really an option, as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d Barron said. The best and simplest answer is to avoid their habitats, she said.<\/p>\n

Ticks like tall grasses and brush, Barron said. Walking through those areas allows the small creatures to crawl onto people and embed themselves, so staying out of those areas and on the trail can minimize exposure risk, she said.<\/p>\n

Hikers can also reduce risk by wearing long pants, especially when tucked into tall socks, Barron said. The ticks may still latch onto the clothing, but they won\u2019t get the opportunity to embed into skin and spread disease.<\/p>\n

Good insect repellents with DEET, permethrin or picaridin can make it harder for the ticks to seek out humans by masking the chemical cues they look for, Roundy said. Ticks use an organ on the end of their front legs to taste the air and sense movement and heat, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll stand on the edge of a blade of grass or some brush, and they\u2019ll be waving those two front arms through the air,\u201d Roundy said. \u201cThey\u2019re actually tasting the air, trying to sense if a host is nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best to conduct a thorough tick check after being in an area where there may be ticks, Roundy said.<\/p>\n

Humans should check any crevices where the parasites can latch on, including the back of the knees, waistband, groin area, armpits or scalp. On a dog, owners will want to check pretty much anywhere with hair, but especially in and around the ears, around the eyelids, under the collar, between the legs, between the toes and around the tail.<\/p>\n

Pets can get sick from tick-borne diseases and can bring ticks inside the home to infect humans, Barron said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTick season has already been worse this spring due to that early activity and the high activity,\u201d Roundy said. \u201cWhat it looks like for the rest of the year will depend on the weather in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ticks normally stay active in Colorado through June, with most species becoming dormant as the summer starts to heat up, Roundy said. If the summer weather starts mild or the state sees a lot of precipitation, this year\u2019s heavy tick activity may extend into July or August.<\/p>\n

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Tick season arrived in Colorado with a bang this year, starting both earlier and with stronger populations after the state\u2019s mild winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado\u2019s tick season worse than normal after mild winter, researchers say - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=368\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado\u2019s tick season worse than normal after mild winter, researchers say - 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