One warm day and the ticks do play, as evidenced by crawlers on my pant legs during last week’s 60-degree weather. Per those who study such things, anything over 35 degrees spurs those eight-legged vampire bugs to hop on hosts.

Ambient air temps don’t offer the whole tick climb-aboard story. It can be a non-toasty 25 degrees as the crow flies, but if the sun is out, the leaf litter on the ground will heat to well above 35 degrees. Adding to that leafy warmth is the temp upswing offered by a just-mounted cozy host.