People are more aware of ticks because of dog ownership, I think, but I don't know if this is a real risk because of the widespread use of tick repellent treatments for dogs (which are their own little eco-disaster).

COVID lockdowns changed us and we're a bit more outdoorsy.

But mostly it is the deer population. There are now four times as many wild deer in the UK as there were before the first indigenous case of Lyme was detected. From under half a million to well over two million over that timeframe.

In the south east around where I am, wild boar are now a potentially significant vector in the high risk areas, too — we've gone from literally zero to a couple of thousand wild boar in the same forty-year period of time just in the 20 miles around me. They apparently can carry upwards of a hundred without suffering.