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Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

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Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#41

Post by cmrdporcupine »

Dumblydorr wrote: post #20
mantas wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ticks are a problem regardless. And they don’t like too much heat. So climate warming may even reduce their population in some parts. Or, more likely, move them up north. Giving relieve to some and headache to others… Lyme disease vaccine would help a ton though. I’ve had Lyme 3 times by now. Thankfully encephalitis stab is a thing.

They don’t like heat? That seems incorrect. If true, Then why are they a huge problem in TX and other southerly areas, and are only now spreading north?

It's the length and depth of cold days in the winter that can potentially limit their breeding populations, is my understanding. So the issue is that more northerly areas are getting much more variance in temperature and lacking long deep consistent cold periods.

Up and down cycles in temperature have always been a thing on the North American continent but climate change has made it even more variable. We will still get places where it gets very very cold but not for the consistent chunks of time it takes to set back tick populations significantly.

TLDR I don't think it's the heat or cold per se but the variance.

And yes climate change is absolutely the prime factor in their spread. Into places where they were not ever a threat before.

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#42

Post by nik282000 »

umpalumpaaa wrote: post #3
opwieurposiu wrote: post #2

If you are out in the woods and you come upon a roughly circular area of crushed down grass, that is a deer bed. Try and avoid walking through it, deer beds are full of ticks. The deer trails are a lot harder to avoid.

I avoid grass all together- especially in the woods.

If I'm going off trail I cram my jeans into my boots and shake everything out before getting in the car. Ontario ticks are just a part of the experience now :/

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#43

Post by topgrain2 »

littlestymaar wrote: post #18
topgrain2 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linen clothes are awesome. Long trousers and long sleeves and almost as cool as short sleeves and shorts in shade, and cooler in direct sun.

Linen is the most underappreciated fabric. It's cool in both ways. I don't understand why so few people wear linen in summer.

Yeah I’m a huge fan, lots of linen and thin, fine cotton that’s not been formaldehyde treated (so, not “non-iron”) on me in hot months. I even have an open-weave linen sweater that’s comfortable into the 90s of degrees F. I’ve got a few high-twist wool pieces that are nice in the heat, but they’re more specialized, less everyday wear sorta of things.

Dedicated summer clothes in trad fabrics are a ton less durable than their winter counterparts, though, for the simple reason that they’re much lighter-constructed. Individual pieces can be had plenty cheap if you bargain-hunt and shop used, but you cycle through more of them than, say, heavy-weight denim or a hefty tweed. Still, mine usually last a few years. Cycling them out seasonally means they don’t wear as fast as some synthetic-blend shirt you wear year-round, so you may not get more wears out of them, but they last a good long while in calendar time.

But man, do they breathe better than just about any of the fancy “tech” fabrics. And feel nicer. Durability, though, is an issue, and you have to get the fit closer to correct than many shoppers may be used to, because most of them won’t have much stretch (no cheating by blending in some nylon or whatever, like a “tech” fabric would)

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#44

Post by cmrdporcupine »

mantas wrote: post #17
bluerooibos wrote: post #15

Another worrying proxy for how deeply climate change is bleeding into everyday life: coffee prices, orange juice prices, and now having to engineer huge trail areas with woodchips just so people can avoid being bitten by exploding tick populations.

Ticks are a problem regardless. And they don’t like too much heat. So climate warming may even reduce their population in some parts. Or, more likely, move them up north. Giving relieve to some and headache to others… Lyme disease vaccine would help a ton though. I’ve had Lyme 3 times by now. Thankfully encephalitis stab is a thing.

I don't understand why we're not vaccinating deer populations, even if we're not vaccinating humans out of safety concerns, etc.

That and deer populations need to be significantly culled (along with rodents, the other part of the Lyme / deer tick population cycle).

In any case, lack of long consistent extended cold spells in the winter to set back their breeding population is the reason they've moving further north. Which is tied directly to climate change.

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#45

Post by bethekidyouwant »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #44
mantas wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ticks are a problem regardless. And they don’t like too much heat. So climate warming may even reduce their population in some parts. Or, more likely, move them up north. Giving relieve to some and headache to others… Lyme disease vaccine would help a ton though. I’ve had Lyme 3 times by now. Thankfully encephalitis stab is a thing.

I don't understand why we're not vaccinating deer populations, even if we're not vaccinating humans out of safety concerns, etc. That and deer populations need to be significantly culled (along with rodents, the other part of the Lyme / deer tick population cycle). In any case, lack of long consistent extended cold spells in the winter to set back their breeding population is the reason they've moving further north.…

I believe mice are the main host of tick populations

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#46

Post by greenavocado »

felix-the-cat wrote: post #37
kbaker wrote: post #24

We have (had?) some ticks in our backyard and I came across these which I thought was a clever attack angle: tick tubes. Permethrin-soaked cotton balls in a tube, mice find them and build nests out of the freely available cotton, ticks that the mice have gathered while walking around die when they come back to the nest.

It does work a little, but it's even more effective to just get some chickens. I did find permethrin works great on clothing - when I used to go hunting a lot I'd get ticks on me every time, and the thing is they climb off of your boots in the car and go under the seats or wherever so you don't get bitten until three days later when you're driving back from grocery shopping or whatever. After I started using permethr…

Wow this is extremely insightful. I need to spray my car floor since I live in tick country.

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#47

Post by cmrdporcupine »

bethekidyouwant wrote: post #45
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why we're not vaccinating deer populations, even if we're not vaccinating humans out of safety concerns, etc. That and deer populations need to be significantly culled (along with rodents, the other part of the Lyme / deer tick population cycle). In any case, lack of long consistent extended cold spells in the winter to set back their breeding population is the reason they've moving further north.…

I believe mice are the main host of tick populations

The black legged tick has a complicated lifecycle which includes both rodents and deer (or other large mammals I believe)

Re: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada

#49

Post by Marsymars »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #41
Dumblydorr wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don’t like heat? That seems incorrect. If true, Then why are they a huge problem in TX and other southerly areas, and are only now spreading north?

It's the length and depth of cold days in the winter that can potentially limit their breeding populations, is my understanding. So the issue is that more northerly areas are getting much more variance in temperature and lacking long deep consistent cold periods. Up and down cycles in temperature have always been a thing on the North American continent but climate change has made it even more variable. We will still…

> So the issue is that more northerly areas are getting much more variance in temperature and lacking long deep consistent cold periods.

It impacts the population, but even a couple solid weeks of -20C weather doesn't seem to be enough to eradicate them.

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