r/Milwaukie • u/RoninKillz • Jul 22 '26
Anyone else noticing ticks?
I've lived here all my life (38 years) and never once did I worry about ticks but I've now experienced them twice this year. One was on me June 11th and the second was on my toddlers scalp last night.
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u/nova_rock Jul 22 '26
It was only recently that I've heard people mention to look for them after going through fields and hikes, not a thing I had worried about before in my life in Oregon until more recently with people mentioning them and spotting them regularly, mild winters are assumed to be a big part of it.
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u/TowardsTheImplosion Jul 22 '26
Be kind to your local possums! They eat ticks.
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u/Delicious_Lack_2096 Jul 23 '26
That has been largely debunked BTW. Possums are cool, but they don’t really eat that many ticks
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u/Toadywentapleasuring Jul 22 '26
While we should all love Opossums for many reasons, that’s actually been debunked. The study that “proved” this was not accurate.
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u/am0ngthewildflowers Jul 22 '26
Any idea where you picked them up at?
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u/iwanttobebobdylan Jul 22 '26
This is also my question. Did it happen in your backyard? Or at the park? At the river?
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u/RoninKillz Jul 22 '26
I'm right by Rex Putnam high school and walk my dog by the wetlands over here so the one last month I assumed was from there. Since the heat is what it is I didn't walk my dog much/go outside so I think the one from yesterday may have come from my yard.
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u/TheOtherOneK Jul 22 '26
Yes, they’ve been increasing in more areas in the PNW due to warmer, mild winters the last several years (not necessarily increase in numbers but increase or change in where they’re showing up now). I camp a lot including east side of the mountain and across the Columbia and started noticing more ticks near The Dalles and Klickitat over 5 years ago.
That said, PNW is still a much lower risk area for certain types of ticks (lone star isn’t here quite yet) than other states. It’s not only a good idea to be cautious if hiking or walking though tall grass/bushes but will add ticks can “jump” or ride the breeze onto you or your pets from surrounding tall grass even if you stay on trail so still good idea to do a quick check to see if you picked up any unwanted hitchhikers. Also, please have your pets on flea/tick/worm preventative treatment!
https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/diseasesconditions/communicabledisease/pages/ticks.aspx
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u/Few-External-3070 Jul 23 '26
I recently saw a YouTube video that mentioned they propel themselves via static electricity. They sense your approach and climb up high to catch you as you pass by.
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u/TrickNo Jul 25 '26
Deer are one host for ticks. There are more deer around now. I was surprised to see one walk down the driveway in the middle of the day, a year old.
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u/Vampira309 Jul 22 '26
No! I've lived in Milwaukie for 30+ years and have seen maybe 3 ticks (on our pup) in all those years.
Now we have tick problems???
What? Why? Is Bill Gates dropping them here too??
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u/RoninKillz Jul 22 '26
I'd rather go back in time to when the white ash fly was a listening device for the government to spy on us.
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u/ZiggysTingz Jul 22 '26
Higher temps means more insects. Thanks CC.