![]() But when they’re scaled up to whole neighborhoods, they may not work as well - and they don’t reduce bites or disease.īeyond the backyard, other research focuses on deer, which do not infect ticks with pathogens, but are a culprit in their spread. In controlled, small-scale experiments, these tactics have shown promise in reducing tick populations and the rate of infected ticks. Another intervention, used separately or in combination with spraying: Bait boxes are set out to attract rodents, which rub against wicks inside treated with permethrin or fipronil, tick-killing ingredients also used in preventive pet products. In such studies, properties may be sprayed with substances poisonous to ticks. Various multiyear research projects past and present seek to reduce that risk - among them, The Tick Project, at Cary Institute, in collaboration with Bard College, and the Backyard Integrated Tick Management Study, at Western Connecticut State University. “But I couldn’t grab them all before they crawled away.”īlacklegged tick disease in humans is often contracted close to home, in backyards and neighborhoods. In just two 30-second samples, she collected 43 adult dog ticks. Connally swiped her “tick flag” - fabric attached to a pole, used for sampling - along the brushy edge of a soccer field while watching her daughter’s game. The well-fed 2020 nymphs may now be reappearing as adults in large numbers. Dog tick nymphs love to bite chipmunks, he said, and last year was a bumper chipmunk year - after all those 2019 acorns fed them, too. Who knows what is causing the current surge in American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) that I couldn’t wait to ask about. Ostfeld said, “but might not kill off many ticks, so that a rainfall event brings them out in droves.” “A long dry spell can reduce questing behavior,” Dr. Ticks cannot fly or jump instead, they grip foliage with their lower two pair of legs and stretch out the top two pair, waiting to grab a host animal as it passes by. Weather does affect tick behavior, including how much time they spend in an activity known as “questing,” which can be affected by humidity and temperature. ![]() Ostfeld said, as that’s the stage most responsible for transmitting disease. The second year - where we are now - sees an abundance of infected, poppy-seed-size nymphs emerge. “It has to become a habit.”Īnother population driver: Ticks that take their blood meal from a mouse have a high rate of not just infection, but also survival, compared with those that bite an opossum or another animal that grooms off and kills ticks more effectively. Connally, a medical entomologist at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury, where tick-monitoring research is in its 11th year. “It has to become like fastening your seatbelt, or putting on a helmet when riding a bike,” said Neeta P. “What we do have are ways of protecting ourselves, and most studies show that people who protect themselves are much less likely to get a tick bite that leads to disease.” ![]() Ostfeld, who has been studying the ecology of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases for more than 30 years. “Lacking super-good diagnostic tools and effective disease treatments, or effective yard treatments that reduce risk, we don’t really have much yet,” said Dr. But they urge us to use all three strategies, as they do in their own gardens. Ostfeld cannot avail themselves of repellents or treated clothing - two powerful prevention tactics, along with diligent tick checks, of clothing, skin and scalp. It’s an occupational hazard: While conducting fieldwork, tick researchers like Dr.
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