Environmental experts are warning New York City residents to brace for a significant increase in tick populations this year, specifically black-legged ticks that are known carriers of Lyme disease.
The upcoming spike is attributed to a phenomenon involving the city’s expansive oak tree population, which totals more than 130,000.
Joellen Lampman of the New York State Integrated Pest Management program elaborated that 2023 marked a mast year for oak trees, a cyclical event occurring every three to five years when these trees produce an abundance of acorns.
The plentiful acorns managed to sustain small rodents through a harsh winter, leading to a surge in the population of white-footed mice and other small mammals during the summer of 2024, which serve as ideal hosts for black-legged tick larvae.
However, by 2025, the situation is poised to worsen.
Due to the lack of surviving small mammals, the ticks will be searching for new hosts in their life cycle stages, increasing the chances that humans will inadvertently become hosts.
“T ticks are incredibly adept at conserving energy and patiently waiting for a host to pass by,
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