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So about that new invasive Bush Tick in the Hunterdon and Union Counties (Haemaphysalis longicornis): I am disappointed to note that everywhere they look, they seem to find them. The USDA/APHIS is going back to look at archived samples of what they thought were Haemaphysalis leporispalestrus, a...

How anyone can let them bite between your fingers, I don't know.

You can say that again. I cringe at the things I would have posted on facebook as a college student.

I have never seen a good argument in favor of getting one of these things.

I did a squash prep of a very tiny shred of one of the morels we picked this afternoon and these photos were the result. Nature is truly art, isn't it? 10x magnification 40x magnification 100x magnification under oil immersion. Every spore wears a little crown.

You mean you throw a deer at a bear if it threatens you? I bet that would work.

Well I am not sure how far off you are. There's a guy in my classes who works for the USDA and he says they are planning something called a "Tick Blitz" in Hunterdon and southern Union counties to get rid of the new Asian ticks that have established there. What does that mean? I have no idea.

Our July veterinary parasitology meeting this year is dedicated to ticks and tick-borne diseases, so hopefully we will see new and cutting edge deer treatment research, which I'll pass along if anything relevant comes up.

They scent mark spots with glands under their eyes, too, so they do rub their faces on stuff, and most of the ticks are on their head, so it may be a possibility.

Bob, I think it's kind of a brilliant idea. I just advised my sister to get a bunch for her yard in Connecticut, they have a lot of black-legged ticks and are in the heart of Lyme territory (just east of the town of Lyme). I think they absolutely can be valuable to reducing the populations of...

It's very very wrinkled to allow for expansion, kind of like crepe paper. They also actually manufacture new skin as they feed.

So here's an interesting tidbit about the invasive tick that's been all over the news: They can reproduce by parthenogenesis, just like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. This is one of the reasons they aren't being contained. I learned a thing today. One of my classmates works at the USDA...

I'm probably going to do my thesis on one of these emerging diseases, so I'll get to read it plenty. Lucky me. :)

I am with you on this.

This is as preposterous as the idea that people would pay a lot of money to install a listening device in their house. ...Oh, wait.

Since you are all nerds and like to take pictures, the best way to ID them or any other ticks is by looking at the shape of the basis capitulum, which is basically the head part. H. longicornis, as the name suggests, has two projections that look like long horns on the dorsal aspect of the basis...

This tick has apparently survived efforts to eradicate it, and has taken hold. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2018/04/21/new-jersey-is-dealing-with-a-tick-species-that-is-new-to-america/#4a51834f7bc1

This is the beginning of the most dangerous time of year for deer ticks. Bastards!

I can tell you first hand, that marketing works. Holy cow. I have to stop buying shoes.

I think that's ridiculous. This goes both ways, you know.