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May just become the new fav animal for us

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Posted 4/27/2016 4:46 AM (GMT 0)
Did You Know That Opossums Eat Virtually All the Ticks in Your Yard? - Wide open Spaces
http://www.wideopenspaces.com/know-opossums-eat-virtually-ticks-yard/?utm_content=buffer71886&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer+
Posted 4/27/2016 5:09 AM (GMT 0)
Might have to check out my local pet shop. Haha..
Posted 4/27/2016 12:32 PM (GMT 0)
I think there was a study going on because opossums never get lyme.....there's something in their blood that keeps them from becoming ill with it. I thought that was interesting! I wonder if there's some type of self inoculation occurring because they eat ticks? On that same note, I've always kind of wondered if the incidence of lyme is lower with folks that eat deer meat, too? Deers are covered in ticks when they are in their natural environment and I'm sure their flesh is steeped in lyme......just some thoughts I had after reading so much about lyme.

Jenny
Posted 4/27/2016 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
That's quite interesting - thanks for sharing!

We have opossums in our area but I still got bit lol

Guinea hens are other animals that devour ticks. We'd get some in a heartbeat if we thought we and our neighbors could deal with the noise.

Oh well, back to making tick tubes and using permethrin.
Posted 4/27/2016 1:25 PM (GMT 0)
You bring up a very intreasting point about venison. As Im a hunter and 75% of the meat I eat in a year is venison and I never thought of that.
Posted 4/27/2016 2:35 PM (GMT 0)
I eat a lot of venison and have since I was a kid. I still got lyme......

I read an article /www.lymedisease.org/opossums/ and basically this article says that where foxes live and thrive there is less ticks because the fox eats rodents that carry the ticks.
Posted 4/27/2016 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
Well, we have plenty of foxes (red as well as grey) where I live and I still got Lyme.

I was stupid, though - I had the dumb idea to create a woodland garden and was kneeling (in jeans but not tucked into my socks) in leaf litter during the month of July. I now only venture into the woods wearing my "hazmat gear" (Insect Shield clothing) and just dream of the woodland garden while enjoying the others I created in safer places lol

NJ is a major migratory path for birds and we see an incredible number of species on our property at times.

I think we're all best off practicing preventative measures and keeping our immune systems strong.
Posted 4/27/2016 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
Jennysetter,

Just a response about the "deer meat". A very old dear friend of mine got diagnosed with Lyme 3 years. He actually caught it while gutting/skinning a deer. He had an open wound on his hand, and Dr believes this may be how he contracted it. Avid hunter and venison eater...
Posted 4/27/2016 5:53 PM (GMT 0)
Jenny -
Yes, I think the opossums have a natural resistance to lyme - there is a lizard that does too (sorry can't remember the name of it).

Opossums...
ugh. They're nice and all... And they may like ticks, but fleas like opossums. I had a very stressful opossum problem a couple of summers ago - one had made a home in my attic. I was kept up all night with it running around up there and making noise. Couldn't set a trap for it because we feared it may had stored babies up there. So after letting it run around the yards/neighbors areas for a few weeks I finally called the professionals and they set traps. They caught a couple of small-sized adults and one the size of a dog. They let them go in the canyon area nearby.

Of course, after the opossum drama ended we then suffered a nasty flea problem in the yard for an entire year. That is something I never want to deal with ever again.

-p
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