Although you may not suspect it, little mice play a big role in regulating our chances of getting a tick-borne illness.
White-footed mice harbor the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. Newly hatched ticks – called larval ticks – can become infected with any or all of these diseases when they feed on mice. And if we are unfortunate enough to be bitten during a tick’s next blood meal, we can also become infected.
My collaborator Rick Ostfeld at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies has been monitoring populations of white-footed mice since 1995, recording the number of ticks they carry.
Rick and his crew noticed many mice had huge larval tick burdens – with as many as 270 ticks on a single animal. Since ticks are parasites that feed on blood, we predicted heavy tick loads would lead to a decrease in mouse survival.
To test our prediction, we developed a statistical model that analyzed 16 years of data on over 5,500 mice. And we found that our original prediction was, in a word, wrong.
Larval tick infestations didn’t decrease mouse survival during the breeding season or over the winter, not even in years when we expected mice to be under stress – like when the acorn crop was low, and competition for food was likely intense. They weren’t linked to a decrease in mouse population growth either.
Surprisingly, we found that male mice infested with larval ticks were more likely to survive during the breeding season. In short, ticks seem to be getting a free lunch.
From a disease-management perspective, this is bad news. Not only are white-footed mice reservoirs for Lyme disease and other debilitating tick-bore ailments, but they are also indifferent to feeding ticks. Heavily parasitized animals persist and feed yet more ticks, creating a positive feedback loop that favors disease spread.
Recently on a camping trip, a mouse invaded my vehicle. Had to set a bunch of traps inside to catch it. Still keep wondering if any ticks dropped off and are wandering around looking for someone else to bite.
Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
poppy, that's not good, I think I'd throw a grenade in my car!
Steve
Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
yes, I have been wondering why all the hype about deer when it's the rodents that are the little evil tick traffickers!
and all those beautiful deer that have been culled
WHERE IS THE PIED PIPER!!!!????
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
Whenever i think there could be ticks in the car(after i pull one from the dog who has been in car-etc)
I spray car with permthrin spray...it works even if you just spray floor-cuz you dont want it drying where someone would touch it
And i close car doors and wundows for an hour...and i have never seen a tick.survive it
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
I could never forget this tick video. And I had a gravel driveway for the first year of purchasing my house & never suspected anything.
Argh 2010, that tick video gave me the heebie jeebies.
I hate ticks. I wish we could blast them or make them implode, or something!
Posted by droid1226 (Member # 34930) on :
Lisa, that made me laugh. Tick traffickers. The Tony Montana's of the lyme community.
Posted by MADDOG (Member # 18) on :
Talk about giving me the creeps in the gravel no less. How many were in the brush ?????
Permethrin spray job needed there.
One time when i was up in Penn. seeing doc S. I had to put on a new fuel pump. I got it at auto zone and put it on in the parking lot. A tick climbed into my tool box sitting on the sidewalk.
MADDOG
Posted by surprise (Member # 34987) on :
As far as the white mice, what we've seen is new housing developments are being built all the time on vacant, overgrown land,
and when the new owners move into their newly constructed house, invariably one of the first things they encounter is an infestation of mice getting into their garages.
