ThankYou for spotlighting the complexities of Lyme Disease transmission. Specifically, the role of mice. And the need for an ecological understanding of the problem, in order to find an effective solution.
Hunting deer on MDI is a complex issue, with local and national elements and with safety implications for the island's human resident and tourist populations. The entire big picture must be considered in debating the desirability of expanded deer hunting here and its potential for reducing the threat of Lyme Disease.
Republican Faulkingham inserting himself into a local debate and pushing a state instituted law specific to one local site (outside his district) is suspect in itself. And must be investigated in terms of the state political environment, the role of party politics, and the Republican party's bent for expanding gun ownership while suppressing gun violence data and opposing safety initiatives.
Whatever we may think of deer hunting, I think relatively few of us would welcome it as a means of legitimizing the proliferation of assault weapons on MDI or to normalize their use in hunting - which has not only questions of legality but of ethical and effective hunting.
While true that deer don't contain Lyme disease, they are the mass transit system for the ticks, which cling to deer, engorge themselves on deer blood and then drop off in places where mice, chipmunks and other small animals spread the malady. Jim Sterba, Author of Nature Wars.
When the ticks engorge themselves on the deer- they don’t pick up any tick borne pathogens. Ticks only feed 3 times over their lifespan of 2 years, therefore wouldn’t we want them to have deer to feed on- instead of animals that can be infected and pass on the pathogens to other mammals in their future meals?
ThankYou for spotlighting the complexities of Lyme Disease transmission. Specifically, the role of mice. And the need for an ecological understanding of the problem, in order to find an effective solution.
Hunting deer on MDI is a complex issue, with local and national elements and with safety implications for the island's human resident and tourist populations. The entire big picture must be considered in debating the desirability of expanded deer hunting here and its potential for reducing the threat of Lyme Disease.
Republican Faulkingham inserting himself into a local debate and pushing a state instituted law specific to one local site (outside his district) is suspect in itself. And must be investigated in terms of the state political environment, the role of party politics, and the Republican party's bent for expanding gun ownership while suppressing gun violence data and opposing safety initiatives.
Whatever we may think of deer hunting, I think relatively few of us would welcome it as a means of legitimizing the proliferation of assault weapons on MDI or to normalize their use in hunting - which has not only questions of legality but of ethical and effective hunting.
This letter hopefully gets out into the mainstream media before we have jack daniel's fueled armed assassins in our backyards.
While true that deer don't contain Lyme disease, they are the mass transit system for the ticks, which cling to deer, engorge themselves on deer blood and then drop off in places where mice, chipmunks and other small animals spread the malady. Jim Sterba, Author of Nature Wars.
When the ticks engorge themselves on the deer- they don’t pick up any tick borne pathogens. Ticks only feed 3 times over their lifespan of 2 years, therefore wouldn’t we want them to have deer to feed on- instead of animals that can be infected and pass on the pathogens to other mammals in their future meals?