[TowerTalk] Antenna/Tower work safety - Lyme Disease safety

[K8RI]

On 4/28/2012 7:06 PM, Andy wrote:
> W1YW at aol.com wrote:
>
>> Lyme disease is endemic and epidemic in this part of Massachusetts, mostly
>> because we let Bambi and his ilk run free to be a pest to you and me.Deer
>> are  the common vector.
> Actually, mice are.  Rodents are the reservoir for the bacterium
> responsible for Lyme Disease.
>
> We call them deer ticks, but they pick up the bacterium from mice, not
> from deer.  The bacterium doesn't infect the deer, so the deer don't
> pass it on to other ticks.
>
> The deer just provide food to the ticks in their (the tick's) second
> year adult phase.

Even with unbelieveable temperatures back March where our lows were 
higher than our record highs and we actually hit 90 one day, about half 
the time for the warmest March on record The last week has produced lows 
that brought hard freeze warnings so I doubt there are many ticks out 
there at present. OTOH we may end up with an extra batch this year.  We 
had mosquitoes in March which I've never seen before and the frogs were 
singing at night...which they aren't at present.

Although the occasional mouse makes it into the house (they can get 
through unbelievably small holes, they don't last long.   My old, "used 
to be tomcat" is far more efficient than any commercial mouse trap.  
He'll lay unmoving for hours, just watching a spot. He sure is fast for 
his size, weight, and age.  (40" toes to toes, 18#, and 11 years)

73

Roger (K8RI)