What Happens to Fleas and Ticks in Colder Seasons?
Written by GCP
Updated November 6th, 2020 | 3 Minute Read
How vigilant do you need to be in the winter to protect your pet against fleas, ticks, and the diseases they carry?
These blood-sucking vermin prefer the warmer months of the year and mostly disappear during a cold winter. However, there are circumstances in which fleas and ticks can still be a problem in the colder months.
To understand why, you need to understand the basics of the life cycles of fleas and ticks:
Fleas
Life cycle basics:
The flea has four life-cycle stages, which include the adult fleas, eggs, larvae, and pupae that are enclosed in a protective cocoon. Only the adult flea lives on your pet - the other stages are all found on the ground and in the environment (including inside the house).
What happens to fleas in the winter?
The first 3 life cycle stages (adults, eggs and larvae) do not survive well in cold temperatures and will likely die, unless the fleas have successfully bred indoors: they will happily survive over winter in a cozily heated home.
If the cocooned pupae are tucked away somewhere relatively safe from the cold (e.g. under leaves, or your furniture) they will wait out the winter and re-emerge as adult fleas once the weather gets warm again.
Ticks
Life cycle basics:
Ticks can live much longer than fleas, with the life cycle sometimes taking from 2-4 years to complete. Because of this, ticks have a diverse array of tactics for surviving the winter. Ticks have 4 life cycle stages: adults, eggs, larvae and nymphs.
What happens to ticks in the winter?
If the tick (as an adult, larvae or nymph) is attached to an animal (your pet or wildlife) over winter, it can survive quite well protected by the cozy fur coat.
If the eggs have been deposited somewhere safe from the cold (under leaf litter or under your furniture) they can also survive the winter.
For some ticks, the larvae and adult females can go into a tick version of ‘hibernation’ and ‘sleep’ through the winter, reemerging once the weather improves.
Some ticks can even survive the winter in burrows – but these ticks generally do not latch onto animals.
So, fleas and ticks can survive inside your home over winter. If you had an especially bad flea or tick season in the warmer months of the preceding year, it is worth being vigilant over the winter as you may still have them inside the house.
Outside the house, ticks are unlikely to be very active. However it is still possible - especially in a warmer winter and if there is a lot of wildlife about.
Related Articles
Natural Ways to Prevent Fleas and Ticks
Four Reason To Think Twice About Traditional Flea & Tick Products
