Just as tick season gets off to an unusually early start, an alarming number of conspiracy theories tied to the arachnids have been proliferating.
Hunters, wildlife experts, and outdoor enthusiasts have all noticed the startlingly high number of ticks and their early emergence. But despite the total lack of evidence supporting any conspiracy, others are pointing fingers.
Grist covered one social media post from Drew Maciel, who searches the woods for naturally shed antlers, and recently posted footage of a dead bull moose covered in ticks.
"Tell you what," Maciel says in the video, "I'm sick of finding dead moose." The clip drew attention not only because of the disturbing imagery, but because it landed at a moment when tick encounters are rising across the United States, and social media users are looking for explanations.
In the video, Maciel zooms in on the carcass, showing dense clusters of ticks packed into the animal's fur and skin. The sight is jarring. But scientists say the explanation is not mysterious. Warmer winters, spurred by a warming climate and longer tick seasons, are helping ticks survive in greater numbers and spread more widely.
Despite this, people are spreading unfounded claims on social media.
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One recently convicted politician from Belgium, Dries Van Langenhove, who violated the nation's Holocaust denial law, commented on the video. He claimed, without basis, that the ticks were the result of "human engineered biological warfare." Another user simply said that "it's Bill Gates" before receiving over 32,000 likes.
In March, a similar outbreak of tick-related conspiracy theories was linked back to a person named Sarah Outlaw, who stated that Missouri "farmers are reporting boxes of ticks being found in fields. This should concern you." Snopes, the fact-checking resource, contacted hundreds of Missouri officials to investigate, finding "no evidence supported the rumor."
The very real and growing health risks related to ticks have also unfortunately created fertile ground for misinformation.
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