"Rabbits and ticks?" Topic

It appears to be a very bad tick season in New York this year. Personally, I've pulled a dozen deer ticks off myself in the last week or so. Probably a dozen and a half off my dog. We have her in an enclosed yard which is impervious to deer. The fence is 6 feet tall and double sided. However, we have rabbits that come in under the fence. Does anyone know if rabbits transmit deer ticks? I am doing my best to exercise my dog and not contract Lyme disease.

If they do transmit Lyme disease, can anyone recommend some ways to cull the jackrabbit population?

During the summer, the [tick] larvae feed on mice, squirrel, raccoon, rabbit and other animals.

link

Also…

Other species of ticks such as the dog tick or wood tick, the lone-star tick and the rabbit tick, and biting insects such as mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies have been shown to carry the Lyme disease bacterium. However, their ability to transmit the disease is not known at this time.

And to answer your last question:

Research shows that reducing the deer population in an affected area to a level of 8-12 deer per square mile virtually eliminates ticks and Lyme Disease in humans.

I guess jack, bugs and easter all have a lot to worry about now.

Ticks will crawl through grass or brush to areas where they can wait for a host to climb on to and feed. The female feeds to provide nourishment for the eggs she produces. A tick that has already fed on a deer or rabbit etc will not feed again.

A few of prventatives:
1. They will not cross grassless barriers. A three foot wide strip of ground covered in mulch acts as an effectove barrier.
2. For your pets use a prescription mosquito/tick/flea repellent like "Frontline" etc.
3. When you go out use a repellent with "Deet", where long pants. If walking in high grass tuck the pantlegs into your socks or boot tops to prevent the ticks from getting inside your pants.
4. Before you or your dog go indoors do a "tick check". The little s will hang onto you or your dog looking for a nice place to feed.

Terry

Be cautious about the dosage of flea/tick repellent on animals, particularly breeds that are susceptible to skin allergies (Doberman, zu, etc.) These dogs can lose hair and develop rashes, so watch them for signs of trouble (and, to be blunt, don't trust your vet on this one… they will very often misdiagnose lost hair as mange or just summer shedding). If your pet develops skin problems after using one of the monthly flea/tick repellents, decrease the dosage. If you have a large dog, you can get the dosage for a small dog and then apply it twice a month, rather than the once-a-month dose for the large dog.

Also, ACTUALLY WEIGH YOUR DOG: DO NOT GUESS. Unless you are a professional, you probably are not trained to guess the actual weight of your dog. Most people, for example, thought my Rottweiler weighed 200 pounds, when in reality he weighed 130-140. Likewise, most people think my Doberman weighs about 130 and she only weighs 95 pounds. Likewise, my brother-in-law thought his tiny dog weighed 20 pounds, but it only weighed 15 when he took it to the vet.

Also, if you don't want to invest in Frontline, or if your pet has a reaction to it, you can switch to washing the dog once-a-week with Head & Shoulders Dandruff Shampoo. It contains Pyrithione Zinc, which will repel fleas and ticks. However, in shampoo form it won't last as long as Frontline or other monthly treatments.

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To answer your original question… yes, rabbits can carry ticks, so be careful.

Ticks were bad last year, too. I pulled several off me while turkey hunting here in Pennsylvania. Everytime I sat still for 10 minutes or more I had at least one tick on me.

The deer population in this state is pretty high, helping to contribute to the expansion of the tick population.

Ha, "bleep"-tsu…

Yeah, it's been a wet spring – good for the tick population.
-Kle.

He heh heh. "bleep" tsu! Oh, that's just precious!

You could get a cat to kill the rabbits.

Or just shoot them yourself, rabbits are pretty spookish but they will sit there in suburban areas unless you move close to them. They aren't bad eating either if you make a stew of them, some people roast them but I've never got the hang of that really. A stew is much better, otherwise they are just too tough.

It also cuts down on food costs a tiny bit.