Lyme Disease predicted to surge this year in Northeast US...

[Fiddleback]

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/44142

...says the title of the article at the above url. And although I can see/understand the potential for increased risk I can't help but think the headline overstates the 'problem.'

The article states that the white-footed mouse is the preferred host of the black-legged tick (see...integration is natural...). Infected by the ticks, the mice are described as being a very effective vector of the disease. Acorns are important to the mice and, supposedly, acorn production crashed this past year. This will lead to a smaller population of the mice. "This spring, there will be a lot of...infected black-legged ticks...looking for a blood meal. And instead of finding a white-footed mouse, they are going to find other mammals—like us." (emphasis mine).

That all sounds logical but the tick's leap from mice to humans sounds like a stretch to me. More ticks (and more humans) can easily lead to more Lyme disease but the article seems to say it's a given that the ticks will make the transition to humans. The mice population crashes because of the lack of acorns but nothing is said about the potential crash of the tick population because of the lack of mice.

There's a risk in popular press (mis)reporting of scientific findings just as there's a risk in readers' interpretations (guilty as charged). Still, be careful out there.

FB

[Don H]

How about less mice = less mice in the shelters = less hikers with lyme disease? Just a thought.

[fiddlehead]

Another (good) reason to carry mouse traps.

[4eyedbuzzard]

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/44142

...says the title of the article at the above url. And although I can see/understand the potential for increased risk I can't help but think the headline overstates the 'problem.' ... There's a risk in popular press (mis)reporting of scientific findings just as there's a risk in readers' interpretations (guilty as charged). Still, be careful out there.
FB

[Sarcasm alert] The preceding news story was brought to you by the makers of DEET. You do have to wonder though if such stories drive sales of related goods and services sometimes.

[Migrating Bird]

Due to the exceptionally mild winter and early warm springlike weather (still winter) here in south central New England, tick activity is starting earlier than normal. We are expecting temps near 80 this week!

[Don H]

Al Gore was right, Global Warming!!!

[Snowleopard]

It will be a double whammy:
More mice means more hosts for Lyme disease and probably a higher fraction of ticks carrying Lyme.
A mild winter seems to be causing lots of ticks very early in Southern New England and New York. Someone on WB from Conn. posted recently about lots of ticks already in Conn. I read reports hikers picking up lots of ticks in the Saratoga area of upstate NY in FEBRUARY!

[Sarcasm the elf]

[Sarcasm alert] The preceding news story was brought to you by the makers of DEET. You do have to wonder though if such stories drive sales of related goods and services sometimes.

Thanks for alerting me

From what I've seen this year, the ticks are up and out with a vengeance. Here in Connecticut we never got a deep enough freeze to kill them off this winter! I can't remember ever finding this many of them on me this early in the year.

I've already had active Lyme disease twice and I should probably just put my doctor on notice that I'll be bugging her for Doxy before the year is out

[Wizard 2009]

Its been a really dry winter...i was thinking that unless it becomes a really wet spring, bugs may not be too much of an issue this year

[Tinker]

Permethrin your clothing and deet your skin. Tuck your pants into your socks. Do frequent tick checks when wearing shorts. Don't sleep in shelters with mice (all of them ).

Hammock - I don't know how permethrin affects coated or silnylon tent floors. Packing up a dirty tent that has been on the ground all night might put you in contact with ticks.

Lastly - Don't worry - you will be fine

[Blissful]

Another (good) reason to carry mouse traps.

Actually another good reason to avoid shelters and tent.

[Blissful]

Doctors are becoming more aware of Lyme and diagnosing it. I believe its always been around and affecting a large amt of people, it's just been overlooked until recently. Thank goodness they are finally waking up. SO many people have suffered because drs would not step up and treat without the blood tests and bulls eye. Now they are starting to by believing what you tell them.

Get doxycycline to have on hand for a loading does if you discover one. Despite pants and deet, I still get them on my hands and wrists. In fact, got them there more than my legs.

[Blissful]

Lastly - Don't worry - you will be fine

Tinker I wish that were true but I can't begin to tell you how many hikers are getting this stuff. They have a right to worry, because concern brings forth vigilance.

[Mr. Clean]

I've been getting deer ticks on me here in southern Maine for over a month now. Yesterday alone I pulled six off me, and got a dozen more off my pants legs. Worst I've seen in a while.

[Driver8]

I was bitten by a little deer tick on a day hike in Salisbury, CT this past Saturday. Caught it when I got back home, so I'm probably ok, but saved the specimen just in case. For the record, this is the first time I've been bitten by a tick, that I know of, on several hundred miles of hikes over the past five or six years. I seem not to be to their taste - if I'm getting bitten, it probably means there are a lot of them about.

[BigHodag]

Expert: Warm Winter Has Interfered With Squirrel Population

Sullivan says the winter normally kills off up to 80 percent of the squirrel population with low temperatures, and low food supplies. He says this warm winter killed off fewer adults than normal, but he doesn’t know how many.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/...el-population/

[leaftye]

I've been getting deer ticks on me here in southern Maine for over a month now. Yesterday alone I pulled six off me, and got a dozen more off my pants legs. Worst I've seen in a while.

We had a mild winter in southern California too, and a week ago I was flicking hundreds of ticks off my clothing.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I was bitten by a little deer tick on a day hike in Salisbury, CT this past Saturday. Caught it when I got back home, so I'm probably ok, but saved the specimen just in case. For the record, this is the first time I've been bitten by a tick, that I know of, on several hundred miles of hikes over the past five or six years. I seem not to be to their taste - if I'm getting bitten, it probably means there are a lot of them about.

It probbly also means that you're smart enough to stick to established trails. I find an incredibly high number of ticks on me after being in the woods and it's mostly after I've been bush whacking or pushing my way down overgrown local trails.

[turtle fast]

This year you will need Deet/Premethrin by the time you get to Waynesboro...maybe earlier.

[Tinker]

I did a hike and some trail work in RI yesterday and one of the other trail maintainers pulled two ticks off of himself. He had his pants legs tucked into his socks but apparantly had never heard of permethrin even though he's been hiking longer than I have. I had permethrin treated clothing from head to toe and found no ticks on myself.