Fall still a time for tick trouble
By JASON KOLNOS
STAFF WRITER
Three weeks ago, David Simser dragged a white flag around the Dennis Pond Conservation woods and afterward it looked like a sesame-seed muffin.
Simser, an entomologist with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, was gathering anecdotal evidence about adult deer ticks at a few locations.
Thirty minutes into this experiment, he had collected more than 300 ticks.
''It was astounding because I can't remember seeing such a quantity of ticks in one location on the Cape,'' Simser said.
As late fall gives way to winter, experts warn residents need to remain as wary when in tick habitats like woods and tall grasses as they would during warmer months to steer clear of Lyme disease and other bacterial infections carried by the insect.
Populations vary
But ticks were not teeming in every area Simser visited. While he collected about 100 of them at another conservation spot off Buck Island Road in Yarmouth, just a few were found at the Dennis Dog Park on Route 134. Likely contributing to the disparity is that the high-tick density locations Simser visited are better corridors for deer and other animals that ticks depend on for their meal tickets.
What Simser deduces from his observations is that there are pockets harboring large levels of ticks even this late in the year.
''What this says is that, if you're walking in certain areas, be prepared because you can still get dozens if not hundreds of ticks if you're not careful,'' Simser said.
It is the unusually warm 2006 autumn that has allowed the adult ticks - which are easier to be seen than the tick nymphs prevalent in the summer - to remain very active, Simser said. Since ticks are active when thermometers climb above 40 degrees, adult ticks can come out in full force during warm spells in cold months, Simser said.
Understanding the danger
Adult ticks are easier to see on clothing and skin, so they are less likely to transmit Lyme disease because people can pick them off before they have a chance to attach to the skin, Simser said. You are more likely to become infected by the smaller poppy seed-size nymphs because they are harder to see and people are most active outdoors during that part of the tick's life cycle in the late spring and early summer, he said.
Lyme disease causes flu-like symptoms and can often cause arthritic symptoms as well. If not treated, many doctors believes the illness can cause long-term neurological and other problems.
Numbers don't balance out
Even though the most active nymph stage ends with summer, holdovers may take another six months to molt into the adult phase. But nymph tick numbers appear to be down, according to the 2006 surveillance study conducted at eight Cape sites and spearheaded by Simser.
Though tick toddlers may be down, the presence of adults has been felt during a season when frost usually comes earlier than it did this year.
''Every deer we check has been infested with them and hunters are remarking on how many ticks they are finding on their dogs,'' says Andy Little, a manager at Powderhorn Outfitters in Hyannis. Little says hunters are quick to grab a $9 bottle of a powerful repellent called Duranon, which can be applied to clothes.
Help sought from hunters
Deer hunters on Martha's Vineyard, long considered a major problem area for the spread of tick-borne illnesses, will be given an additional week rather than the usual one-week shotgun season that begins Monday, according to Sam Telford III, associate professor of infectious diseases at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and a well-known Island tick researcher.
The aim is to increase the number of deer taken by hunters.
''As the deer density became greater and more spread out, it changed the habitat and brought this problem on us,'' said Telford, adding there were fewer deer on the island in the 1950s and barely any ticks.
Hope for the future
Telford said he hopes the extra week of deer taking will help reduce tick bite instances.
''This intervention work is not intended to produce immediate results this year or next,'' Telford said. ''We are doing this for our children.'' Jason Kolnos can be reached at
jkolnos@capecodonline.com. (Published: November 24, 2006)
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