Ticks can actually live into temperatures in the negative, but spring is when they start coming out in droves. Basically before winter they attach to a mouse or deer (ie deer ticks)/ any host pending geographical region and when the weather starts to thaw is when they fall off and start reproducing. Female ticks can lay thousands of eggs a piece hence the abundance of them. Deer ticks are most prevalent in NE area.

It takes about 12-24 hours for a Lyme/disease transmission to even take affect so make sure to check yourself thoroughly immediately arriving home from a trail. They also love dark, moist areas so even if you think they didn't travel, don't underestimate it!!

I have some more gross facts, but I'll save those for another time. I had to go to an informative seminar on ticks one year and it was slightly traumatizing 😂