Ticks forecast to be problematic

[gearfreak]

Warm weather brings early start to their season. WSJ Article

[Spokes]

Like I said in a previous "bad ticks this year" post- consistent trail maintenance to clear overgrown grass along the trail would help. Some sections up North haven't been maintained in decades. Sad.

[Greystroke]

Friend's wife got three deer ticks last week walking in woods in Western Mass.

[Pony]

My stepmother works in a veternarian's clininc. They have found ticks on dogs all winter long. Extremely rare here. I got one just a couple of days ago in the yard.

[lemon b]

Ticks are not anything new. Since the discovery of Lyme seems we worry about them more. I've been looking the body over for years doing a tick check. Little drop of bug juice and they come right off. Usually there seem to be alot around in high grass in spring. Some people and animals are actually become immume to lyme.

[Wise Old Owl]

Here is the bigger picture.

Increases of homes with pet cats & feral have decreased bird populations in a very big way - birds eat ticks. Deer populations in the millions are providing transportation and Moose are currently dying and getting dehydrated from them. A dry year is always a bad year. Ticks are also happy with shelter mice and mice that love fields and backyards. They too provide a blood meal and transportation and fleas.

(I won't go into diseases)

Feral cats are a big problem in the surrounding counties - Huge in the news here due to lawsuits and changes with the Delco SPCA.

Although I have nothing to do with it, local shelters and SPCA are destroying 60 feral cats a week per location.

What is forgotten is the sheer numbers of small birds "filling up" central park in NY in the 20's-1945 so bad that some didn't go to the park during the great migrations.

IMO that's why we are currently having a problem with ticks.