DDT & Lyme disease

[ultrarunner]

The deer population explosion has brought a huge problem here with ticks AND fleas...

On the 65 acres of tree farm I counted two herds totaling 26 deer...

Just crazy how they multiply and devastate the young trees... electric fences are no barrier...

 

[smstonypoint]

I don't think it is a new disease but I suspect we now have the science to isolate the cause and give it a name. My guess is that Lyme has expanded with the explosion of the deer population in the last 50/100 years.

The deer population explosion has brought a huge problem here with ticks AND fleas...

A few years ago I read an article in Forest Owners Magazine in which the author claimed that there are now more white-tailed deer than when Europeans first settled North America. I don't know how he estimated the deer population at that time, but I don't think his claim can be dismissed out of hand.

Steve

 

[fishheadbob]

A few years ago I read an article in Forest Owners Magazine in which the author claimed that there are now more white-tailed deer than when Europeans first settled North America. I don't know how he estimated the deer population at that time, but I don't think his claim can be dismissed out of hand.

Steve

It's kind of the conventional wisdom that there's more deer now than in pre- colonial times. The reasons given are that back then the now U.S. was heavily forested which provided little browse for food, plus a good number of venison loving predators. Now there's great habitat for deer whether in suburbia or overgrown farmsteads, very few predators, and fewer meat hunters.
Sounds like a reasonable claim to me; the little 4 legged stinkers are overrunning my locale.
FWIW it's claimed there are more horses now than in the wild west days too.

 

[ultrarunner]

Hunting is legal on the farm... but it is a little slice or island surrounded by areas where it is not.

City limits on 3 sides and parkland to the rear.

The fear is should a wounded deer leave the property the bad press would be brutal...

Have several friends that have asked to hunt... either rifle or bow... not experienced enough to risk it.

But the fact remains the two herds are doing a number on the seedlings.

 

[TomSeller]

. Where we see lots of deer is in town! :shocked::shocked::shocked: There are at least two deer herds in our local town, one on the east side of town and the other on the west. You can see them crossing a major road in the middle of the day! :confused3: THAT did not happen 50 or 100 years ago.

The deer around our house are covered in ticks during the summer. It is quite horrifying to see and makes my stomach turn. Really disgusting to see the thousands of ticks on these deer. :shocked::shocked::shocked:

Later,
Dan

Seems for the in town ones some do-gooders would feed them a tick treatment somehow. Better than spreading Lyme I would think.

 

[randy41]

So now I'm thinking, was there Lyme back in the 50s - 60s? I don'y remember it. Many more folks were outdoors then. More rural living.
Did it show up late 60s to 70s?

A very close friend of mine was devastated by Lyme. He got it about 20 yrs ago. Many doctors didn't know anything about Lyme then .
Friends Lyme was gone too far to cure and he lives with it. Forced to early retire. So, I wonder if it't a new disease , if yes why?

Cheers.....Coffeeman

lyme disease was identified in the 70's. previously it was thought to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

 

[dmccarty]

Seems for the in town ones some do-gooders would feed them a tick treatment somehow. Better than spreading Lyme I would think.

Years ago on TBN, someone posted about a deer treatment station which was basically a feeder with what looked like a pair of paint rollers on two sides. The deer would come to feed and the paint rollers would apply Permethrin to the deer. Studies of the station said that it would drastically reduce the number of ticks over 50ish acres but it would take a couple of years. This is has been on my To Do list for far too long.

This is the only way to provide tick treatment on deer that I have ever about.

I also think another reason for the spread of ticks is the lack of wild fires. Fire is the only thing that I can think of that will clear ticks out of large areas quickly. Forgetting the political and health issues of spraying large amounts of chemicals, I don't see how chemicals can be sprayed that will cover large areas and get under the brush much less down in the leaf litter. Fire will clear out the ticks but in built up areas I don't think it is possible.

Don't get me started on our Do Gooders in my town and county. They are a bunch of hypocritical idiots. They would have a fit over treating the deer to remove the ticks. One of tthese nuts is blaming a neighbor for killing her apples with Round Up when two different people at the County Extension office, as well as other people, have told her it was Cedar Rust. Then there is the woman who thinks airplane contrails are poison. :shocked: I wonder what she thought of the eight USMC copters that flew over the town last week? :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[aczlan]

DDT and its breakdown products are extremely persistent in the environment. I recently tested soils in a residential area in Seattle that contained DDT, its breakdown products and other pesticides at concentrations well above levels which are carcinogenic to humans, 40 years after the last application. The soil had to be excavated and hauled away as dangerous waste.

My question would be, what was that property used for 40+ years ago. Was it a pesticide storage or processing facility? Was there a spill there?
I doubt that would be the case if it was a house or field 40 years ago

Aaron Z

 

[coffeeman]

lyme disease was identified in the 70's. previously it was thought to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

My friend was about 50 when he got Lyme. The doctors diagnosed him with premature arthritis. Doctors did test him for Lyme. Test was negative. My friend was a school teacher. He and his wife researched and came up with Lyme suspicion. Their research revealed one can have lyme but be negative to testing. They traveled 100 miles to a lyme specialist who determined it was lyme. The late diagnosis put him past the time when antibiotics will kill the lyme . The disease is controlled , but meds have hurt liver and other organs in his body. Has caused lots of pain & suffering for him and family. Dangerous disease.

Cheers......Coffeeman

 

[JamesHW]

Quick heads up rgdg ticks...a friend of a friend in our area of Upstate NY died in June from Powassan virus acquired from a tick bite. One problem is transmission is fast (faster than Lyme) and diagnosis difficult (flu like symptoms). Humans are considered dead end host as the virus cannot be re-transmitted back to ticks or other hosts. My understanding is it is most dangerous to elderly, children & those w/ compromised immune systems...

From the CDC:

Powassan (POW) virus is transmitted to humans by infected ticks. Approximately 75 cases of POW virus disease were reported in the United States over the past 10 years. Most cases have occurred in the Northeast and Great Lakes region. Signs and symptoms of infection can include fever, headache, vomiting, weakness, confusion, seizures, and memory loss. Long-term neurologic problems may occur. There is no specific treatment, but people with severe POW virus illnesses often need to be hospitalize

When at the property I'm in the brush working a lot so I took advice from a .mil friend and got a pair of pantyhose and wear them while working in combination with a long sleeved shirt. Not a quarantee, but a measure peace of mind, at least from the waist down.