Cornell University Scientists Study Ticks

A group of scientists from Cornell University are tracking tick-bearing deer and studying which pesticides work best on ticks.

ITHACA, N.Y. — By all accounts, this was a good first year for a three-year study meant to eradicate ticks on Shelter Island, one of the worst spots for tick-borne diseases in New York.

Cornell University scientists scoured the woods and fields collecting tick nymphs. They tagged dozens of tick-bearing deer and hung bulky G.P.S. units around some of their necks, to track their every move. And last week they were packing away the 58 four-poster feeding stations that had been set up all over the island to lure deer and dose their necks and faces with pesticide.

The researchers will haul them out again in March for the study’s second year, when they expect to see tick numbers start to fall off, and maybe plummet.

Source: The New York Times

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