Lyme article in NYT today

[Joe M]

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/more-ticks-more-misery/

 

The reader comments are more interesting than the articles from tick experts, in my opinion.  The Lyme controversy rages on…..

 

 

[linda]

Thanks for the article Joe. It was interesting to learn that opossums kill ticks. I'm not a big fan of those critters, and I have one that comes around every once in a while to eat the food I put out for a few strays I'm feeding. Maybe I shouldn't feel so indisposed to him.

I hate the thought of killing deer, I could never do it myself unless I was starving, but the population does need to be controlled. Not just to decrease ticks, we know that the deer themselves become sick and die when they become overpopulated. No one likes to think of Bambi as ground zero for tick borne diseases, but those ticks do love to hang out w/Bambi, there's no denying that.

[Joe M]

Hi Linda!

We also had a run in with a possum several years back.  It was wandering into our breezeway to eat our cat's food.  The cat got in a tussle with it and ended up with a hole through its paw, a scratched eye, and a few bites.  We ended up with a large vet bill.  A few nights later I trapped it on the breezeway and got revenge for the cat.  They are the ugliest creatures God ever created, in my opinion, but they do have their purpose. 

The deer in Iowa are also out of control.  We have them walking down our street, in our yards, you name it.  Too bad they can't figure out something they can feed the deer that is lethal to any tick that latches on.  Deer are cute, the kids love them, but they really are giant rats. 

Joe

[Parisa]

I think if you try to eliminate all the hosts for ticks you would end up eliminating alot of other creatures besides deer.  They like birds, lizards, mice, and on and on.  Dirty creatures seem to feast on anything that moves.

[Author]

Posts