5 ms·

MA to ME already have a different species of Fire ants[0]; from Europe though, not S. America. Please do not purposely import these foreign species. [0]https:/

MA to ME already have a different species of Fire ants[0]; from Europe though, not S. America. Please do not purposely import these foreign species. [0]https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2550e/ https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2550e/

abakker 9y ago
should clarify that I am not serious. I've just had Lyme disease enough times to want to kill ticks. Better solution, AFAICT, is aggressive reduction in deer populations. Hunting and predator reintroduction to bring deer population down into historical norms would seemingly reduce a major host/transport mechanism, and would have secondary benefits for the hardwood forest ecosystem.
- eric_h 9y ago
  Yes - bring back the wolves!
- 24gttghh 9y ago
  Small rodents/birds are also one of the primary food supplies for larval ticks, so reducing these populations should help to disrupt their life-cycle[0]. The smaller ticks are the ones more likely to infect you as well, since they are harder to spot. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/images/lifecycle.jpg https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/images/lifecycle.jpg
  - abakker 9y ago
    While this is true, the average mouse never goes more that 300 feet from their dwelling. While mice can infect deer ticks with lyme disease, it is deer that are primarily responsible for spreading the disease to new populations. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072871/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072871/ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701111549.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701111549.h...
    - 24gttghh 9y ago
      Ah, I'm not saying it is mice that are the vectors, but that mice are a food that keep Deer Ticks alive in the summer months. Also, from the conclusion of your NIH article: >Despite a decrease in EM rash incidence, however, we did not find a statistically significant effect of the deer hunt on EM rash incidence, probably due to LD reporting issues, study design limitations, and the small population size.
- thomnottom 9y ago
  From what I have read (I do not have the references handy), while they are called deer ticks the primary hosts/transport are mice.
- mrfusion 9y ago
  I was wondering if we could give deer the equivalent of tick/flea collars? Or maybe put out salt licks where they have to enter through some kind of machine that sprays them with some kind of insecticide.
  - mcguire 9y ago
    Not as crazy an idea as you might think: http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/rabies/orv.html http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/rabies/orv.html http://www.raboral.com/about-rabies/raboral-v-rg http://www.raboral.com/about-rabies/raboral-v-rg
  - abakker 9y ago
    My other ulterior motive in reducing their population is the forest ecosystem, though. http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v2/issues/figure_sets/deer/overview.html http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v2/issues/figure_sets/deer/overview.... https://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/ https://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/ http://strawberryhill.org/hunting-a-reverence-for-preserving/ http://strawberryhill.org/hunting-a-reverence-for-preserving... the last link has some especially troubling photographs of what I'm talking about; growing up I saw those exclosures all around with much the same effect every time. Possibly a salt lick that just sterilizes the deer?
    - R_haterade 9y ago
      >Possibly a salt lick that just sterilizes the deer? Only after we finish putting chemicals in the water to turn the freaking frogs gay.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
    Easier to just shoot them. The only vehicle out of the 5 we own that has never had a "deer incident" is the newest one. I also have neighbors who almost died when they hit a deer during a motorcyle ride.
    - freehunter 9y ago

abakker 9y ago

should clarify that I am not serious. I've just had Lyme disease enough times to want to kill ticks. Better solution, AFAICT, is aggressive reduction in deer populations. Hunting and predator reintroduction to bring deer population down into historical norms would seemingly reduce a major host/transport mechanism, and would have secondary benefits for the hardwood forest ecosystem.

eric_h 9y ago
Yes - bring back the wolves!
24gttghh 9y ago
Small rodents/birds are also one of the primary food supplies for larval ticks, so reducing these populations should help to disrupt their life-cycle[0]. The smaller ticks are the ones more likely to infect you as well, since they are harder to spot. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/images/lifecycle.jpg https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/images/lifecycle.jpg
- abakker 9y ago
  While this is true, the average mouse never goes more that 300 feet from their dwelling. While mice can infect deer ticks with lyme disease, it is deer that are primarily responsible for spreading the disease to new populations. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072871/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3072871/ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701111549.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701111549.h...
  - 24gttghh 9y ago
    Ah, I'm not saying it is mice that are the vectors, but that mice are a food that keep Deer Ticks alive in the summer months. Also, from the conclusion of your NIH article: >Despite a decrease in EM rash incidence, however, we did not find a statistically significant effect of the deer hunt on EM rash incidence, probably due to LD reporting issues, study design limitations, and the small population size.
thomnottom 9y ago
From what I have read (I do not have the references handy), while they are called deer ticks the primary hosts/transport are mice.
mrfusion 9y ago
I was wondering if we could give deer the equivalent of tick/flea collars? Or maybe put out salt licks where they have to enter through some kind of machine that sprays them with some kind of insecticide.
- mcguire 9y ago
  Not as crazy an idea as you might think: http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/rabies/orv.html http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/rabies/orv.html http://www.raboral.com/about-rabies/raboral-v-rg http://www.raboral.com/about-rabies/raboral-v-rg
- abakker 9y ago
  My other ulterior motive in reducing their population is the forest ecosystem, though. http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v2/issues/figure_sets/deer/overview.html http://tiee.esa.org/vol/v2/issues/figure_sets/deer/overview.... https://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/ https://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/ http://strawberryhill.org/hunting-a-reverence-for-preserving/ http://strawberryhill.org/hunting-a-reverence-for-preserving... the last link has some especially troubling photographs of what I'm talking about; growing up I saw those exclosures all around with much the same effect every time. Possibly a salt lick that just sterilizes the deer?
  - R_haterade 9y ago
    >Possibly a salt lick that just sterilizes the deer? Only after we finish putting chemicals in the water to turn the freaking frogs gay.
- HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
  Easier to just shoot them. The only vehicle out of the 5 we own that has never had a "deer incident" is the newest one. I also have neighbors who almost died when they hit a deer during a motorcyle ride.
  - freehunter 9y ago