For many people in Maine, they haven't been able to enjoy an evening in their backyard without a swarm of black flies around their face, a tick or two crawling on them or a host of mosquito bites when they venture back inside. That's left a lot of people claiming that this year is the worst they've ever seen. That may seem like hyperbole, but in truth, 2019 has seen a "bumper crop" of all of those pests and there's one specific reason to blame.

Wood tick
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According to the Sun-Journal, the rainy and wet spring that we've all been suffering through has actually been a pleasure for ticks, black flies and mosquitos. It's been perfect breeding conditions, and thus, has left all of us swatting away those pests more often than we should be. Without almost any instance of extended sunny and dry conditions, mosquitos and black flies have been multiplying at record levels and that has left plenty of people itchy and annoyed.

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Even worse is the ticks. The Tick Lab at the University of Maine Orono has been studying deer ticks throughout the year and found that nearly 45 percent of the ones they've analyzed tested positive for the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease. Deer ticks don't survive well when the heat and dryness cranks up, but since we haven't had much of that in Maine so far, the deer tick population is thriving.

So cross your fingers and hope that at some point, we actually see a few stretches of hot conditions this summer. In the meantime, lather yourself up with bug spray and always do tick checks after spending time outside.

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