Tick Weather?

[sandgrubber]

I have had three or four dogs come down with tick infestations (brown tick, I think) in boarding kennels: a couple of them were really covered. The surprising thing to me is that the numbers are so small /uneven . . . I'd expect all dogs to get hit by an infestation. Also, the period of infestation seems to be very short . . . a few days, then no more.

I'm not keen to get out the face mask and gloves and spray poison all over the place, but if it's the way to avoid a later build up in numbers, I'll do it. I must say, I'm skeptical if I'm spraying grass, and the ticks have some way to sit out the autumn and winter, to re-emerge in teh summer. My guess is the spray will do nothing . . . or tick instars will be able to re-infest from the surrounding areas.

I suspect that they buggers only reproduce on hot nights, and we haven't had many of those this year.

I'm told that around here the bandicoots, blue tongue lizards, and roos carry them. Not sure I want to try keeping them away.

Can anyone tell me why ticks come and go in such a spotty manner? And whether spotty infestations are likely to be a prelude to constant/heavy infestation?