Backyard Research
Blacklegged tick disease in humans is often contracted close to home, in backyards and neighborhoods. Various multiyear research projects past and present seek to reduce that risk — among them, The Tick Project, at Cary Institute, in collaboration with Bard College, and the Backyard Integrated Tick Management Study, at Western Connecticut State University.
In such studies, properties may be sprayed with substances poisonous to ticks. Another intervention, used separately or in combination with spraying: Bait boxes are set out to attract rodents, which rub against wicks inside treated with permethrin or fipronil, tick-killing ingredients also used in preventive pet products.
In controlled, small-scale experiments, these tactics have shown promise in reducing tick populations and the rate of infected ticks. But when they’re scaled up to whole neighborhoods, they may not work as well — and they don’t reduce bites or disease.
Beyond the backyard, other research focuses on deer, which do not infect ticks with pathogens, but are a culprit in their spread. Deer move around widely, bringing large numbers of ticks along with them.
One tool being used to combat this is a four-poster device — a stand containing a hopper of corn as bait. To get the bait, deer must rub their heads and necks on permethrin-impregnated rollers. This reduces the tick population, but with the cost and maintenance required, it is unclear if it is a widely applicable solution.
Ticks vs. How We Garden
We would probably have to stop gardening altogether to comply with the C.D.C. guidance on preventing tick bites: “Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.”
And some ecologically minded garden practices may actually foster more tick habitat. My commitment to a less-fastidious fall cleanup to support successful overwintering by many beneficial insects and other arthropods, for example, means more leaf litter that harbors ticks. A study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology in 2020 — on fall leaf-blowing and raking in residential New Jersey properties that resulted in deeper litter buildup at property edges — seems to confirm that.
