The Great Tick Illusion

Before I share a brand-new video with you, I have some great news:

My newest online course, Elders: The Ecology of Old-Growth Forests, will be open for enrollment in two weeks!

I’ve spent the past 16 months filming, researching, and structuring this course to be a comprehensive guide to these incredible ecosystems. I’ve gone deeper into the science and soul of the forest than ever before, and I’m excited to finally bring this vision to life.

If you’ve been following the updates over the last few months, thank you for your patience.

Keep an eye on your inbox over the next two weeks. The official launch date is Monday, May 11.

In the meantime, I have some new information to share with you about a well-known member of the forest:

The black-legged tick.

So far this year, I’ve had more than two dozen ticks crawling on my body. [Fun fact: Not all these ticks surprised me. To capture video footage of ticks, I often have to intentionally walk through shrubs and tall grasses to find them.]

No matter how they end up on my body, I’m always left with the same question: Where are all these ticks coming from?

For a long time, we’ve been told that ticks are simply moving north as the climate changes. But interestingly, a recent preprint study challenges this assumption.

It turns out that the history of the tick on our landscape is far more complex and ancient than we realized.

In a brand-new video, I discuss the latest research and what it actually means for those of us living in tick territory.

Thanks for reading and watching!

— Adam Haritan