Collaring Deer Ticks To Reduce Lyme Disease

An automatic device that puts a pesticide-impregnated collar around a white-tailed deer's neck may help reduce Lyme disease in the Northeast and help control cattle fever ticks along the Texas-Mexico border. Lyme disease is the most prevalent tickborne human disease in the United States, with about 90 percent of the cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention occurring in northeastern states.

Pesticide collars are commonly used for controlling ticks and other parasites on domestic animals. But until now, collaring wildlife has meant trapping or tranquilizing the animals. The new collaring unit, patented by Agricultural Research Service scientists, lures deer to a specially designed feeder. To eat, an animal must place its neck near the collaring mechanism, which releases a flexible, self-adjusting collar similar to flea collars worn by cats and dogs. ARS researchers in Kerrville, Texas, who tested the collars on captive deer, found no ticks attached and feeding on the animals. The collars are impregnated with amitraz, a pesticide approved for livestock that also kills ticks on deer hair and skin. If approved for use on deer, it would be safe to use during hunting season, from October through December, when most adult blacklegged ticks—the culprits behind Lyme disease—are feeding. Further research, along with a cooperative research and development agreement with Wildlife Management Technologies of Noank, Connecticut, should lead to refinements of this tick-control method.