California Gardening: Ticks! Yuck!, 1 by

wrote:
I noticed the tick infestation was exceptionally bad this year too, although they have slowed down now. I think it was the wet winter and spring, with all the extra undergrowth to cling to? I was pulling those big fat deer ticks off my poor boxer almost every day for a while. At first she didn't like it, but once she figured out what I was doing she wanted to smell and sniff them (EWW) We live in a rural area, and their 'backyard' is about 40 acres of scrub and redshank, so there is no controlling the source. They seem to have let up now, though, as everything is drying out.
No big black widow issues, almost never any fleas, and zero roaches in my area. But it's supposedly a bad year for rattlesnakes, though I haven't seen one yet, on our walks.
This is a pic of my crew waiting paitiently for 'mom' to come for a walk.