[ValleyNature] re TICKS and collecting & sending to NSDNR or NSMNH

[James W. Wolford]

I think we should all be collecting ticks for identification and  
getting them to either any N.S. Dept. of Natural Resources ("Lands &  
Forests") or to Andrew Hebda at the N.S. Museum of Natural History in  
Halifax on Summer Street.

Ticks can be put into pill containers or jars, and no preservative is  
needed, since all tick stages (larva, nymph, adult) can live for  
extended periods with no food or water -- of course, each sample  
should have date and locality written on a note (best in pencil).

  "Ticks" in reports usually are assumed to be wood ticks, alias dog  
ticks, which are nearly harmless in terms of diseases, but of course  
the noticeably smaller black-legged tick, alias deer tick, to which  
Sandy refers below, is the one that carries Lyme Disease.  Both the  
latter tick and disease are predicted to increase in the province as  
climate change progresses, since the black-legged tick is a more  
southern species whose range in spreading northward and in other  
directions.

Cheers? from Jim in Wolfville

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Sandy Hiltz <birddog at ns.sympatico.ca>
> Date: March 18, 2010 1:14:02 PM ADT
> To: naturens at chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: [NatureNS] Ticks
> Reply-To: naturens at chebucto.ns.ca
>
> There have been several reports of ticks in the Yarmouth area this  
> week and at least one appears to be a Black Legged Deer tick
>
>
> Sandy

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