I knew about Dr. Lane's research on the lizards before. I wish there was some way we could use the protein in that blood to protect ourselves.
I'm trying to decipher the meaning behind this part of the article, though:
"The researchers found that in plots where the lizards had been removed, ticks turned to the female woodrat as their next favorite host. On average, each female woodrat got an extra five ticks for company when the lizards disappeared.
However, the researchers found that 95 percent of the ticks that no longer had lizard blood to feast on failed to latch on to another host."
So is the implication is that the ticks would feed on the woodrats, but most of them didn't, so they were roaming around without a blood meal?
Ticks can live for a long time without feeding. Does "another host" include humans?
Maybe I should call Dr. Lane and ask.
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