Ticks are spreading, and down in the article, you guessed it, the cause is speculated to be global warming aka climate change.
From CBS in Charlotte, worry over a one year increase. Excerpts:
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — In the trees and grasses of the South, there are a growing number of unwanted visitors that at best are an itchy nuisance and at worst can carry debilitating diseases: Ticks.
Public health officials say that numbers of reported cases of diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are not yet alarming and have not yet shown a definitive trend upward from a national perspective.
…
“Ticks are spreading, but usually not like wildfire,” said Joseph Piseman, chief of tickborne disease activity for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The spread is kind of slow but sure.”
…
The Lone Star tick carries a flu-like infection, and Apperson said the main reason for its emergence in the region is a larger population of deer for it to feed upon. Scientists aren’t so sure about why other species are invading, however.
…
For the most part, scientists are not yet examining why the populations have been spreading, said entomologist Bruce A. Harrison, who studied ticks for the state of North Carolina for nearly 20 years. He hypothesized it may be at least in part caused by climate change. As temperatures change, animals that are food for ticks migrate — often because the plants they eat are now growing elsewhere.
…
While the CDC hasn’t reported a spike in tick-borne diseases, officials in North Carolina have noticed an increase this year compared to a year earlier. Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases are up 50 percent this year, said state public health veterinarian Carl Williams. And while there typically wasn’t a single positive Lyme disease test 10 years ago, now there are a few each year, Mekeel said.
Full story: http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2012/05/28/new-species-of-ticks-spreading-disease-across-southeast/
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Like with tornadoes, we now have doppler radar, and storm chasers and live reporting, now that we have a national database for Lyme disease and constant reminders in the news, is it any wonder there is an increase in cases?
Story submitted by WUWT reader George Ellis
atheok says:
May 30, 2012 at 10:14 am
Good post, but you’re wrong on this point. A songbird is, by definition, one of the perching birds.
Wikipedia:
Starlings are surprisingly good singers, but their voice is typically weak. The House Sparrow’s vocalizations are primarily a monotonous chirping, but they have other vocalizations too:
From Wiki:
Starling:
House Sparrow:
All sources, Wikipedia
If there is still remains an interest in the jolly conservationist
global warming BIRD HUNTER issue:
Please see the hunting spots on YOU TUBE:
“”CAZA DE CORDONIZ CON FERNANDO”””
or take “”CORDONICES 2010″””
My comment: The quails commonly live close to farm animals
(goats, sheep) and peck around, cleaning off ticks and protein
vermin
and living in a FAMILY of about 10 birds ….
Here in those spots you can clearly see, that these families
were already killed off, otherwise birds would stay together…
….. only the few single individuals trying to
hide on the far out field edges remain, are then stirred up by dogs
and even the last bird will by shot, no mercy…… the more shots,
the greater the fun….Please talk to the HUNTERS afterwards, you will
see…while
the ticks infestation spreads more and more and global warming is
the cause pointed out by the jolly good hunters….
JS
I think I know where the ticks in NC came from. We had a place on a lake in Kentucky, and lived in NC for 20 years. Our dogscarried billions of ticks from KY to NC every year. It was impossible to walk through the woods of KY without getting home infested with the little buggers.
The only time any of us got sick from a tick was on a trip to CO. The dog got Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever. Froze him up solid and he couldn’t move, but a dose of antibiotics fixed him right up.
Just speculating but might it be coming from people moving out of California and into North Carolina? 😉
Well, if you believe they’re songbirds, even by right of birth by wiki, you’re welcome to all of them and their lovely singing. They start when the first tinge of gray heralds the dawn. When you figure out just what notes they’re using in their song, well, keep it to yourself. ;>
Ah yes, the definitive, based on science not falsehood, last word on the subject by someone who
knows, er that’s definitely not the right word, invents his facts. Got any real proof it’s global warming or is that also in yuptube and wiki?Joachim Seifert says:
May 30, 2012 at 12:29 pm
If there is still remains an interest in the jolly conservationist….
_______________________________
Joachim,
As I said before I lease to a hunt club and have for close to twenty years. I find your view of hunters no where close to reality. I had my window shot up by a hunter as a kid so I have every reason to be skeptical of hunters.
On my property I have found the tracks of bear, I have red tail hawk, owls, vultures, blue birds, duck, canadian geese, gray heron, cardinals, wood thrush? and many many other birds. I was privileged to see a nesting pair of Bald Eagles not far from my farm. I have a female gray fox who calmly walks past me quite often and more deer than I can count. They graze with my sheep and goats and like my salt licks. I have seen a very dark brown, a black and a pinto not far from the farm (I didn’t know they came in such colors!)
My hunters are responsible. They hunt from stands so the shot will not travel and do not disturb my livestock. They are a joy to deal with and keep the idiots off my land. Leasing to that hunt club is the best decision we ever made.
For what it is worth the hunt club and I are discussing fencing in most of my property (85 ac is woodland) because the loose dogs from the newly developed land down the street are running the deer half to death. We want to give the deer a sanctuary where they can get away from the dogs and rest. A fence along my property line will cut off the dog packs access to about 3 sq miles of woodland. The hunt club is willing to pitch in and help build and maintain the fence.
Gail: All you write sounds wonderful, no doubt, the responsibe
hunting clubs belong to the good guys of nature conservation… as
well as our Theo, the duck hunter…..all those activities do not
contribute to the spread of pests/plagues in the forest land….
I do not blame those who do NOT CONTRIBUTE to the spread
of pests of any wrongdoing….
Please read further up the comments about pest/tick infestation in
KY and NC….. this gives one the chills by just thinking of doing
a walk in the woods….When I was litte (7 -14), I spent almost every
weekend in the woods, collecting blueberries, chantarelles and
mushrooms of all types….my favourite pasttime….. I NEVER ever
saw/heard of ticks, not to mention how to write the word….
….. The countryside is overrun now by ticks because all the QUAILS,
fowls and feasants: all ground scouring “GAME-BIRD”s (please note the
word GAME! Why GAME? Doesn’t it have something to do with
Hunting??) are MISSING… seemingly on your great land as well…
….. You can do something GOOD: Ask the hunting club to set out
some fowl and quail families with a water dripping point….and have
tick eaters on your land (not or only sparsely to be hunted….) and
this way you contribute to the healthy restoration of a (almost) tick
free land……
Cheers JS
atheok says:
May 30, 2012 at 6:46 pm
It’s not a question of belief, It’s standard Avian taxonomy, which is not unique to Wikipedia. Classification as a Songbird is not based on the quality of the song, but on the shape of the vocal organ
Didn’t you catch my description of the House Sparrow’s song as “monotonous chirping?” Crows don’t really have a very musical song either, but they are Passeriformes, and they are also Oscines, or Songbirds.
It is legal to trap and destroy House Sparrows, and I think it is a good idea. House Sparrows routinely enter Bluebird nests and kill the nestlings, and adults can be killed too if caught in the nestbox by a male House Sparrow, which is not a true sparrow, but rather a Weaver Finch.
All humans are capable of singing, but some of us don’t do it very well. The same is no less true of the Songbirds.
@ur momisugly Steve P. Well I’ve learned something. I’d’ve guessed the house sparrow was protected in the UK, but it isn’t. http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/PDF/waca1981_schedule2.pdf
Sleepalot says:
May 31, 2012 at 7:55 am
Yes, that list is a bit surprising. As a note of interest, populations of the House, or English Sparrow (P. domesticus) have been falling in England in recent decades.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/housesparrow/population_trends_and_conservation.aspx
Some think that birds-of-prey are responsible. (Original report info in comments.)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1269580/Soaring-sparrowhawk-population-leads-shock-decline-humble-sparrow.html#ixzz1wT9hMboH
Back on topic, whether or not songbird populations in the United States have any impact on tick populations is unknown, and I brought it up only to show that it is plausible that they might. The other side of the coin is that ticks commonly feed on birds too.
The Guinea Fowl mentioned above is not a native to N. America, but it does seem to have gained a reputation as a tick gobbler in barnyards and such. These ground-feeding birds would have little impact on woodland ticks, and that is where most of us would be at greatest risk
Ticks no doubt benefit from the presence of large herbivores on which to feed, and get the blood meal they need to reproduce. Reduction or elimination of natural predators in the range of the White-tailed Deer in E. N. America, along with land use changes, has led to what must be described as an explosion of their numbers, especially over the last few decades.
In familiar Midwestern woodlands where I only rarely saw a deer as a youth and young man, there are now small herds. In the same woodlands, populations of Wild Turkeys have increased a lot too.
Similarly, populations of Canada Geese have increased significantly, as well, and in some locales, these big honkers are present year ’round, having apparently lost the need to migrate because of land use changes, feeding by humans, and other factors.
Additionally, there are cycles in the populations of various critters, for example the 17 year locust, and the lemming, and other cycles may remain obscure.
It is beyond dispute that our planet has been warming, generally speaking, since the last retreat of the ice sheets some 10-12,000 years ago. The general warming trend has been interrupted on several occasions by periods of cooler weather, such as the LIA, the most recent of these.
What will happen next is anyone’s guess, but it is a change to cooler conditions that will present the greater challenge for our species. The Imperial Valley of California is arguably the nation’s hottest region, and it is also our most productive agricultural region as well.
The Earth is a dynamic environment. The only thing constant is change.
My apologies Steve, in spite of my clumsy attempt at humor, I should’ve directly thanked you for your posts as they are very informative and I appreciate them.
Well, yes and no; as you point out they are not native to North America, but I first learned of their tick eating happiness from residents in rural Virginia bordering West Virginia. There I met residents who said the birds were terrific at clearing an area of ticks and almost none of these folks had what we’d consider a lawn. Most of the places where I encountered guineas were wooded and the owners were thrilled with the guinea’s ability to control ticks. At first, I placed little faith in their claims, but over time I had to agree with their love of the guineas, as guard birds and as insect destroyers. I wanted a flock of guineas here where I live, but some of my neighbors may take more convincing than I can invest. I fear that the guinea hen’s tendency to wander would get them quickly killed on our local and much busier roads. Now if only they’d also eat chiggers…
Oh yeah, I am one of those people who does not have a gift for a musical voice. Not even in the shower. My lame joke was that my preference for application of the word songbird is actually to birds whose songs are enthralling to out ears. Your use of the word songbird strikes me as part of the proper latin family name structure. I’ll stick with my use of the word and not feel ashamed.
Hitting the online Merriam-Webster dictionary:
atheok says: @ur momisugly May 31, 2012 at 12:07 pm
I fear that the guinea hen’s tendency to wander would get them quickly killed on our local and much busier roads. Now if only they’d also eat chiggers…
_______________________________________
Guinea fowl DO control chiggers (personal experience)
Busy roads however are a problem. The word dumb was made to describe guineas.
Interesting, the NAVY is ahead of our times….but better
get a family of Quails, dogs and traffic cannot get them….
they fly up too fast with thunder noise, one of the family is
permanently watching…and it is NOT the HUNTERS association
but the NAVYs recommendation, although the pest is on deers,
where the hunters SHOULD be concerned with this problem of
studies/conservation/pest tick protection/elimination, preventing
pest. proliferation..
…. they are simply BEHIND… and behindness as always, going
to the bottom of the matter, always is caused in their heads…
JS
The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris ) being bred or imported for the task of munching on ticks is a native African species:
As I thought, it’s not a bird of forests, but rather one of open or mixed woodland. Other guineafowl species are native to African forests and jungles, but not N. meleagris.
This links to a short paper on a controlled study of Helmeted Guineafowl and ticks:
http://www.guineafowl.com/fritsfarm/guineas/ticks/tickstudy.pdf
But here’s the bigger problem I have. Almost every time humans bring a critter from one part of the globe to fix a problem with some other critter from some other part of the globe, that ol’ law of unintended consequences rears its ugly head. Eventually, it turns out that we have created another problem, perhaps bigger than the original.
Doesn’t it strike anyone as being slightly odd that no native N. American ground-feeding bird ever evolved to feed on ticks? I suggest that some native N. American (perhaps) gallinaceous species may have filled this ecological niche, but these have been removed from the land, or their numbers severely reduced due to land use changes, and/or other factors.
And now humans want to bring a bird from halfway around the world to combat a problem that may have been created by elimination or severe reduction of native species already evolved to do the job.