Thoughts on Lyme disease.I

[Woodznutz]

It occurred to me that many who get Lyme disease don't go into the woods but stay on the walking trails and yet still get tick-bit resulting in Lyme disease. But why on cleared and mown trails? Here's my theory. Open areas, such as walking trails are often lush with grasses and other seed-bearing plants that don't do well in the shade of the woods. It is these fallen seeds that attract the mice that carry and infect the ticks, which drop off when fully fed. So, these cleared walking paths likely have a larger concentration of ticks looking for their next meal than is realized. From the short grass they can easily hitch a ride on a hiker's shoe and climb onto their body then attach to a spot favorable for feeding, thus infecting their victim.

The best defense is to wear long pants tucked into socks, but most are bare-legged preferring shorts.

 

[The Irish Ram]

The ticks that carry Lyme are deer ticks. Other animals can host the ticks, but the animals don't transmit the disease.
The little bastard ticks climb to the top of blades of grass or weeds and attach themselves when a person brushes the weed. They usually have to be attached to you for 24 hours before they can transmit the disease. We pull them off of our dogs and cats daily...