A new study published in the journal Ecology found that a single white-footed mouse is able to play super host to hundreds of ticks at the same time while showing no ill consequences.
White-footed mouse populations are on the rise, too, thanks to one main reason: poor development planning. Fragmenting forests to create housing developments or box stores often evicts mouse predators like coyotes, foxes, and owls.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say about 30,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme each year, but many experts agree tens of thousands more are unknowingly walking around with the ailment. Standard doctor's office tests are notoriously poor, missing up to 60 percent of cases.
According to an article in The Republic, forest patches smaller than 3 acres had an average of 3 times as many ticks as larger forest patches. And get this: As many as 80 percent of the ticks in the smallest patches were infected with Lyme, the highest rate seen! Experts in that article suggest that community planners should avoid creating forest fragments smaller than 5 acres. Otherwise, they could create a Lyme disease haven full of mice
When it comes to your own backyard, you've got options, too.
- Plant a beautyberry bush. They are native and believed to repel ticks.
- Create a buffer path of gravel between any wooded areas and your yard. Mice and ticks don't like to cross over that.
- Keep wood neatly stacked and in a spot that gets some sun. Moist, sloppy wood piles are an invitation for ticks.
- Consider raising free-range chickens and/or guinea hens in your yard. They are voracious tick eaters.
via Rodale News http://ift.tt/1ql4dIY
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