Anecdotally, the tick population here in MA has been particularly high in our state this summer. And the Vineyard is home to an especially high density of deer that makes it extra hospitable to those lone star ticks, which you can read about in MV Magazine.
Probably time for me to start wearing permethrin treated clothing when I work in the garden. Sigh.
OK, that alpha-gal syndrome sounds horrible!
The word “cull” is noticeably absent in this article when it should be forefront. I know nobody wants to kill deer but there comes a time when you have to cull the herd. Ticks don’t die in the winter, they just hibernate. The problem with these little townships. They think they’re doing the right thing but they’re going the wrong way. Human life takes precedent over wildlife imo.
Where I live, the green belt has been whittled down to build housing on the edge of town.
I have deer in my backyard all the time. We also have Coyotes in the neighbourhood that were displaced by all the new dense housing that took over forests and farmland, and they’re feasting on the deer and rabbits. The foxes we had around in 2021 have been pushed out by the coyotes.
just had my pooch at the vet and he tested Lyme positive, but has shown no symptoms (yet.) The tech said they have several dogs who test positive their whole lives with no signs of the disease. I pray my best bud is of that mold.
About the same here. Everything goes in cycles. The coyotes always seem to win out don’t they.
Yep.
They are relatively new to my neighborhood. I live about 3 miles on the city side of the city limits. We had them in the country. We didn’t have them making eye contact with our lapdogs through the sliding glass windows until the last 3 years.
They moved into my city’s park system and forest along the rivers about 3 years ago. I know exactly which townhouses displaced them. LOL
They stroll along the pavement at night. They cry and howl when the people in those new neighborhoods set off fireworks in the middle of winter when the wildlife should be taking it easy, if not hibernating.
We mostly have Coy Dogs in Ontario, which are part domesticated dog. They are a pretty nice looking animal. Not too many 100 percent coyote coyotes. They still have the coyote behavior patterns, unfortunately, for smaller animals.
So it does sound like warming helps them in terms of migrating to colder climates they normally wouldn’t tolerate. We’ve seen that here (SE US) with new spider populations moving in and taking over (Joro spiders).
I had to google to see what dangerous ticks are in my state and apparently I’m eligible for Heartland virus, alpha-gal, anaplasmosis, Lyme and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (the first 3 are quite uncommon, though).
Guess I need to start going over the dogs when they come in. Ticks absolutely love my wife. I may have said before that on one of our honeymoon hikes through some tall grasses, and dressed very similarly, we got back to the cabin to find her the tick gathering champ, outscoring me 10:0.
We’ve lived in suburban South Orange County (CA) for 43 years. It’s been built up into open land constantly over that time, but it seems that only in the last 10 years or so coyotes have become an every day thing. The local social media app is constantly full of sighting warnings as they have killed household pets and attacked dog walkers from time to time. Gotta think it’s a combination of the buildout destroying food/shelter sources and hotter weather in general that has made them so bold.
We have quite a few yotes by us. I don’t know of any neighbors with livestock that lost anything to them. They’re great little garbage men. I love hearing their yipping and howling late at night, when I’m on the porch. Never seen them go from woods to my land. Deer and turkeys on the other hand…
The coyotes in our area will howl with the 10pm curfew siren, emergency services sirens and when they’ve taken down prey. Sad to me is we don’t hear them as often as we did before more people moved in. I love the coyote song.
Shaking my head…
Whenever one of my friends posts a picture of their kid, 90% of the responses are about how “beautiful” or “handsome” said kid is. I get that all you can get from a photograph is what something looks like. But maybe don’t respond to “My daughter just had her white coat ceremony” with “You must be so proud! She’s gorgeous!”
Disgusting and heart-wrenching.
“Congrats on your pretty face.”
Now I am reminded of a Janine Garofalo joke from way back: “I was looking at Vogue the other day, and one of the headlines was ‘This spring, a pretty face is your best asset.’ As opposed to last spring, when ugly girls got a free ride.”
I was joking, but the fact that most people still emphasize and compliment how someone’s offspring looks, as if that were any accomplishment worthy of mentioning (besides the mere luck of the draw in the genetic lottery) shows just how little progress has been made.
It reduces the kids to mannequins to be dressed up and primped, but no doubt the parents will feel tickled & proud 
