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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

#61

Don't know which is worse - - contracting Lyme disease, or Parkinson's disease from Permethrin and other pesticide exposure: https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2009/09/occupatio... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27756609/

What's interesting about this study is that ticks were reduced by 50% with untreated woodchips (no pesticides!)

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

#62

A healthy wolf population is the proper (trophic cascading) solution to the tick epidemic.

Can you expand on this provide me pointer to research for this? I am not an expert in the fields but it seems very interesting

The most cited research studied wolves' affect on elk populations in Yellowstone restoring riparian habitats(1).

Wolves' impact on the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer has also been studied(2). “CWD prevalence could be halved within a decade and eliminated within the century if a pack of wolves consistently and selectively removed 15% of deer in a closed population” (Waldner, 2016)

I don't know if wolves' impact on tick populations has been explicitly studied, but you can find research on habitat diversity reducing ticks(3); and it follows that the lack of predators contributes to deer population explosion, which in turn provides an unbounded vector for the tick epidemic.

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235198942...

2. https://wildlifecoexistence.org/blog/wolves-and-chronic-wast...

3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12445845/

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

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ticks have always been around Ottawa, and even in 2011? I recall -40C for well over a week, and obviously cold temps around that week.

Insects lay eggs, and also go dormant under fallen leaves typically. The snow + leaves insulates them, it's how live insects survive the winter.

If you watch robins in the spring, before the ground thaws, you'll see them flipping over leaves. They're eating loads of insects hiding, most still torpid from the cold.

-40C isn't a problem for ticks to live through in this way.

In terms of population, everything follows predator/prey cycles. Nothing is static. It's normal for populations to "explode", eventually predators will grow in numbers too.

I see it with noseeums here, and dragonflies. There are almost no noseeums this year, but loads of dragonflies, which means the dragonfly population will collapse, and soon (couple of years) the noseemums will be relentless. But then the dragonflies will grow in numbers, with plentiful food, and the cycle will repeat.

It's natural.

Global warming may shift habitats, but these ticks are normally here. They're not new.

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

#64
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of drugs work for dogs and cats because they don't live longer than 25yrs. A human has 3-4x the lifespan during which side effects can be worse than the disease.

Is that true? I don't know of really any medicine that has side effects 25 years down the line. Would we even know? We don't test new meds that long before release. Isn't it more because meds are cheaper to test on animals and liability is much lower?

I think the original, mouse brain derived Japanese Enephilitis vaccine, now discontinued, caused symptoms years later.

But prions were the cause, and those are slow acting.

The new, safer vaccine is only recommended if you're going to Japan or surrounding areas, and planning to going outside the city.

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

#65
post #52

A healthy wolf population is the proper (trophic cascading) solution to the tick epidemic.

I would much rather encounter a hungry tick on a recreational trail than a hungry wolf

Make sure the wolves are well fed.

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

#66

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…

I’ve seen a tick in Wisconsin every month of the year over the past five years or so. That is I’ve seen a January tick one year, February tick that same year or another year, etc. Whenever there is a bit of a warm spell they appear. Presumably small upward trends in temperature allows such warm spells to happen more frequently.

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

#67
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK there was a Lyme disease vaccine, but was discontinued, probably because it wasn't effective enough, I don't remember the details.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2870557/

TL;DR; antivaxers

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

#69
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of drugs work for dogs and cats because they don't live longer than 25yrs. A human has 3-4x the lifespan during which side effects can be worse than the disease.

Is that true? I don't know of really any medicine that has side effects 25 years down the line. Would we even know? We don't test new meds that long before release. Isn't it more because meds are cheaper to test on animals and liability is much lower?

When I asked why there is no human equivalent of flea/tick drops my vet said it was because "when you only live to be 20, you don't worry about smoking when you are 10."
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