Might be the cold will reduce some if the insect infestations. That would be a big benefit . Wonder how it effects ticks ?
Wouldn't that be great! I hope it wipes out every one of those little bastards up here. They have been multiplying and becoming a more constant P.I.A. with the warmer temperatures.
We don't have a large tick population.....yet. The heavy snow is a problem for mosquitos though. More snow means more water in the spring which help incubate more bugs. Seems like the black flies follow the same route here as well.
+1. Mosquitoes do well here when we get good snow cover all winter (like this year so far) Am betting many insects don't make it thru this arctic blast, may be a blessing in disguise . May hurt some snakes too, not sure that's good. Protect your water pipes !!!!
Hope your right on the lil buggers freezing. Get tired of scrubbing em off the front of the wing come bike season. Pipe wise we're A-okay, everything set up to handle these temps.
The other day I was loading the stove with some red oak, it was a little punky on the outer section of the splits. As I filled the firebox along came a spider (running for it's life) making it's way to the cooler side. That little guy survived -10 last week.
I think you need quite a bit of sub - freezing weather (around a month or more) with NO snowpack to really effect ticks and such. Snow acts as an insulator, the ticks are dormant on the ground and the snow protects them. Sadly, we ain't gonna see much benefit the cold wont hang around long enough........
Always did wonder how wasp eggs in the hanging nests survive such cold. Are they still good to hatch after freezing and then thawing? Apparently so, darnit.
The yellow jackets (wasp) here , the last few to hatch as it starts getting cold are queens. They fly off & hibernate in the ground thru winter. Each one that survives, starts a new nest in the spring. Any eggs that don't hatch die.
I wish the arctic cold would get ticks. I caught Lyme's from those horrid bugs. Never saw them when I was a kid. Had bad winters then. Now we have ticks and Japanese Beatles and some new thing that is killing hemlocks. All migrated from the south. I hope the cold does a number on all of them. Oh, please don't forget the birds. Hang some suet. The fat give them some energy to make heat.
It might help. I don't remember them in PA 60s & 70s, , but cousin's dog in Virginia always had them. May be different species of ticks though.
Colder winters = fewer insects the following summer for me. It never gets them all, but it definitely helps.
Hot dry summers also help a lot. As usual, my dog needed Frontlined on a regular basis this summer or he would get covered in ticks. By Aug we were in an "exceptional" drought and breaking high temp records. No more Frontline needed, all the ticks were gone. I think it had more to do with the dry conditions than the heat.
Instead of hibernating in the ground wasps hibernate in large standing dead trees. They enter cracks and gang up together in large groups. I have found hundreds in a standing dead tree after cutting it down. On the up side trees like that are dry on the inside and sometimes ready to burn.
