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FeedDid coyotes trigger the ticks-Lyme scourge?
I am always amazed at the interconnectedness of nature. One recently revealed example: it seems the explosive growth in the black-legged tick population and the burgeoning epidemic of Lyme disease is caused by a complex and fascinating series of ecological reactions involving the Eastern coyote.
You can read about the most recent research on the subject, which was published in the June edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in a story in Scientific American online at http://bit.ly/Kwakdo. The study was done at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
But perhaps to really appreciate the chain reaction that apparently has led to the Lyme disease scourge, we must go back a century or so to southern Canada and perhaps northcentral United States, where humans slaughtered so many wolves that the wolf's social pack structure was decimated.
That resulted in – for a short time, perhaps only decades some scientists believe – male Canadian gray wolves mating with female Western coyotes.
The resulting hybrid animal was the Eastern coyote – bigger, grayer and a more efficient predator than the Western coyote. Those animals migrated south and east, and now most coyotes in Pennsylvania and the Northeast are their progeny.
Research done in Massachusetts, New York and most recently Pennsylvania has confirmed that most coyotes carry the wolf genes. As we have seen in the results of organized coyote hunts, some get big; 50-pound males are not uncommon.
As we all know, coyotes are very prevalent in our state and the Northeast. And just like wolves, under normal circumstances, don’t tolerate the presence of coyotes, Eastern coyotes kill foxes. And the assent of the Eastern coyote in the Keystone State and the rest of the Northeast has resulted in the sharp decline in red fox numbers.
Researchers found that where there once was an abundance of red foxes, there is now an abundance of coyotes. That’s significant because the fox’s diet consists of small rodents such as the white-footed mouse, known to be one of the prime hosts of the tick that carries the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Coyotes eat rodents, too, but scientists suggest they are more focused on bigger prey.
So the decline in red fox populations may well be responsible for the explosion in tick numbers and Lyme disease in the last decade. When fox numbers dive, scientists tell us, mouse populations climb, and ticks follow suit.
We have been told for years that the increase in ticks and Lyme disease resulted from an overpopulation of white-tailed deer. Now scientists are realizing that may not be true.
"We have been told for years that the increase in ticks and Lyme disease resulted from an overpopulation of white-tailed deer."
Don't misinterpret what you've been told just because you read 1 study. You need to read many studies before you get an idea of the bigger picture.
In many studies over-abundant deer are mentioned to be a contributing factor, but not the sole cause of an increase in ticks and lyme disease. Abundant deer herds provide ticks with a consistently abundant food source, but in years when small mammal populations boom, so do ticks numbers and cases of lyme disease. Why? Because there's more hosts! Small mammal populations are "boom" or "bust" depending heavily on the previous year's mast crop. I worked on some research in Dutchess County NY at the Carry Institute, and they find that lyme disease, though high to begin with in that area, seems to be more prevalent after a good mast crop year. This is partially because there will be a boom in small mammal populations, thus giving ticks more hosts to feed. Abundant deer in the area are part of the equation because they are a consistently abundant food source, but abundant small mammals AND abundant deer can push things over the edge!
Amazing how everything is interconnected, right?
SHHHH! Dont tell anyone Jeff. Its got to be the deer. Its ALWAYS the deer to blame. Pgc will have one less reason for their eradication efforts.
They are to blame completely for everything the destruction of our forests, to cancer and the common cold.
Sandman - Seriously...get a clue. The whole driving system with ticks starts with the mast crop. The interaction between foxes and coyotes may be a piece of the puzzle also, but its certainly not the most important piece. The most important piece is small mammal food. Poor mast crop = little small mammal food = fewer small mammals = fewer hosts = fewer ticks.
Not everything is about deer, but it IS important to understand the role deer play in lyme disease. To think they don't play a role in the lyme disease hand is just ignorant. They are a large bodied host...just like coyotes, bears, bobcats, etc. However deer are the most abundant large bodied host in the woods. You can't deny that because it's a fact. When ticks don't have small mammals to serve as hosts, they seek out other hosts, and since deer are abundant, they make a great host. One deer can be a host for thousands of ticks. When small mammal hosts are in short supply, deer likely play a major role in carrying multiple generations of ticks over until small mammal populations are abundant again.
Im well aware of lymes and the surrounding factors and facilitators, but thanks for the self gratifying rudimentary attempt at an explanation I didnt need, nor ask for.
Btw Kathy, I see youve been banned from yet another site. Hpa. Was long overdue and well deserved imho. Whats that? 8 or 10 sites now? Pretty bad when an environmentalist cant remain a member THERE of all places! lol.
"Im well aware of lymes and the surrounding factors and facilitators, but thanks for the self gratifying rudimentary attempt at an explanation I didnt need, nor ask for."
Because you're an expert right? Been researching it for years I'm sure.
"Btw Kathy, I see youve been banned from yet another site. Hpa. Was long overdue and well deserved imho. Whats that? 8 or 10 sites now? Pretty bad when an environmentalist cant remain a member THERE of all places! lol."
So that's where you've been! I haven't had a -1 on the F&S website in about 2 weeks and I was worried you might have been sick. Guess you were just being a terror elsewhere. Judging by the quote above you're still accusing people of being Kathy Davis. I mean surely, everybody that disagrees with you MUST be Kathy Davis, right? I mean she obviously has some sort of personal vendetta against you, right? Heck, I don't even know what Hpa is! You must have a lot of free time on your hands.
"Been researching it for years I'm sure."
Absolutely. Pretty much everything and anything to do remotely with deer Ive taken great interest in.
"So that's where you've been! I haven't had a -1 on the F&S website in about 2 weeks and I was worried you might have been sick."
HUH?? Me thinks someone is paranoid. If you wouldnt hack off people everywhere you go with your attitude you might not get banned everywhere and "minus oned" on other sites.
"Judging by the quote above you're still accusing people of being Kathy Davis."
Whatever you say....KD. ;.)
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