Ticks and mosquitos are more than an annoyance, they can also cause serious health issues. The most known and common issue is Lyme disease. It is transmitted by deer ticks and can have longterm effects on people and pets. Most infections happen when the tick is in the nymph stage (when they are the size of the tip of a needle). Most people never know they have been bit and the longer the tick can feed, the more likely for infection. In some cases in Maine fifty percent of the deer tick population carried Lyme disease. Mosquitos can carry many different viruses but the two most common in Maine are West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).  Symptoms of these viruses include headache, high fever, altered mental state, tremors, convulsions, and may cause inflammation of the brain, paralysis, coma and even death.