Of ticks and men

Al Gabriel looks at the correlation between deer and tick numbers in the UK and how we can manage these arachnids

- Al Gabriel

In the first of this two-parter (Waging war on these parasites, 24 May), I promised that this section would focus on the central role deer play in tick bites and the means of combating ticks. Like most things in life, there are perceived risks and there are real risks. Ticks are the latter. The risk for tick-borne infections is on the rise nationally but the risk and incidence rates are expected to be much higher in deerstalkers.

The understanding of ticks varies among stalkers. Seasoned stalkers, who have seen old friends lose their livelihood, mobility and, in some cases, their lives to Lyme disease, often have a healthy respect for our arachnid friends. Local knowledge is the most important factor in reducing the chances of getting bitten. I would even suggest that stalkers should use a sampling system, such as ‘tick dragging’, where a white sheet is dragged along a test area to establish the level of tick burden from multiple sites on their ground.

Taking an annual census of an area would help build an evidence-based approach to tick mitigation and identifying hotspots. It might also provide some indication regarding tick densities year on year. It is an inexpensive and simple system that can be deployed at short notice.