Many years ago, before the Mexican invaders took over the jobs, I used to plant trees in Minnesota. They were all row cropped, spaced on about a 7’x8’ grid over acres. Some were for timber, but most were for the paper mills. In the course of a day, I’d plant between 3000-4000 seedlings depending on the terrain and soil type. In the course of a day I’d pick up anywhere between 50 and 125 ticks crawling up and burrowing into me. I thought it was bad, at least until the black flies came out. Now THAT was bad! Black flies crawling into my nose and ears and eyes, with a constant swarm around my head. The ticks seemed like rather minor annoyance then.
Crushed a biting black fly into my shoulder. Got the symptoms at that site. Tested positive for Lyme. Doctor said, black flies aren’t a vector. I respectfully disagree.
Never had dear ticks, but myriad of the regular ticks. Biting flies suck!