Scotland has seen an increase in the popularity of outdoor pursuits in recent years. As more people spend more time hill-walking, running or camping in the countryside, we can expect to see an increase in reports of tick bites and sightings.
Climate change may also be impacting tick populations, as the recent mild winters in Scotland may have stopped ticks from dying off meaning more survive through the winter to start biting again in spring.
The Brennan Lab are partnering with TCV to grow our #TickMap where you can take a look at and report tick “sightings and bitings”!
Whilst the project is mainly concerned with tick sightings in Scotland, sightings from other parts of the UK and the rest of the world are welcome and can be recorded on the tick map, and this data will be shared with the Smithsonian Institute.