Brent Hill of Buxton is one of the state’s citizen scientists participating in a University of Maine tick survey. Robert Lowell / American Journal
Ticks are out in full force these days and Brent Hill, a woodlands owner in Buxton, is ready to do a number on them.
In July, Hill will participate in the 2021 Maine Forest Tick Survey to assist University of Maine researchers in their study of how forest management impacts the tick population and to determine the tick-borne disease risks across southern and coastal Maine.
Results of the 2020 tick survey indicated woods with timber harvests in the past 20 years had “significantly fewer” blacklegged ticks than other lots. Land with invasive plants, such as barberry and honeysuckle, had “significantly more” blacklegged ticks than others.
A blacklegged female tick and a nymph. Contributed / Griffin Dill, UMaine Cooperative Extension
“The more concerning tick species is the blacklegged tick (or deer tick), which you can recognize easily because it’s the only common tick species in Maine that has black legs. That is the species that carries Lyme disease among other pathogens,” said Allison Gardner, entomologist and assistant professor at the UMaine School of Biology and Ecology.
Sitting on his Buxton deck last week armed with two spray cans of insect repellent and a plastic baggie for depositing ticks, Hill said this will be his second year as a citizen scientist for the survey.
“I’ve got ticks, that’s why I wanted to participate,” he said. “They deter you from good use of your property.”
Last year, he and 115 other participants collected 1,653 ticks, including 806 blacklegged ticks, which were first discovered in Maine 40 years ago. Maine has 15 tick species, according to UMaine.
Of the blacklegged ticks collected in the survey, 445, or 55.2%, had pathogens that cause diseases including Lyme disease, and 25.2% of blacklegged tick nymphs (immature stage) were carrying bacteria that cause Lyme disease.
In Maine annually, 1,000 to 2,000 human cases of Lyme disease are reported, UMaine says.
The blacklegged tick population is densest in southern and coastal Maine, the survey found, mostly in forests and edges of forests.
A volunteer drags for ticks in 2020. Contributed / University of Maine
Volunteers collect the ticks by dragging what Hill describes as a “white fuzzy cloth” on the ground. Ticks found on the cloth are picked off with tweezers and placed in a vial of alcohol to save for testing.
In a portion of his property where timber had been cut, Hill last year collected 18 dog ticks, but no blacklegged ticks. Dog ticks, which bite humans but don’t transmit pathogens, are a prevalent species this year, Gardner said,
Last year’s survey indicated 2020 was “an unusually low tick year” unlike this year.
“The mild winter likely contributed to high overwinter tick survival and early tick activity. I found host-seeking ticks as early as February this year,” Gardner said.
The rodent population is also a factor in the tick population, she said.
“Last summer and fall we also saw large white-footed mouse populations, and because mice are important hosts that frequently are parasitized by ticks, a high mouse density year often is followed by a high tick density year,” Gardner said.
Westbrook resident Simon Snyder, who lives near the middle school, said he’s been targeted by blacklegged ticks while mowing grass.
“One did start to lodge on my leg,” Snyder said.
“The best action homeowners can take to reduce the tick population is to remove high-quality habitat for ticks and rodents,” Gardner said. “Brush and leaf piles provide ideal habitat for both host-seeking ticks and their key host
species.”
Gardner recommends wearing light-colored or permethrin-treated clothing and performing regular tick checks.
If you find a tick on yourself or your animals, Gardner said, you can submit tick specimens to the tick lab at UMaine Cooperative Extension and get your tick tested for pathogens for a modest fee.
The good news is that the high tick populations seen now may soon dissipate.
“Just because we’re seeing a lot of ticks now doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing high tick activity all summer,” Gardner said. ” Last summer, we saw relatively low tick activity because the weather was so hot and dry and ticks are quite sensitive to these conditions. So we’ll need to see what the summer brings this year.”
Information about volunteering for the tick survey can be found at UMaine.edu/ForestTickSurvey/Get-Involved.
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