Lyme Disease Sign
Here is a terrific educational notice that I enjoyed seeing on the wall during a recent veterinarian visit with my dog. Using artwork created by children to help teach the public educates both the visitors and the children who are creating it. We use the same outreach techniques in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds with signs drawn by hundreds of school children which we then laminate and post on beaches and offshore islands to let beachgoers and boaters know there are endangered birds nesting in the area. We certainly see less damage to them than other more generic, bland and...
Read MorePartners – Amphibian Survival Alliance
Amphibian Survival Alliance and partners lead strategic efforts to prevent spread of deadly salamander disease in North America New publication outlines swift and coordinated action in the conservation community An emerging fungal pathogen that has caused recent die-offs of salamanders in Europe, faces a formidable foe in North America: the Amphibian Survival Alliance and its partners, who today published a paper outlining the conservation community’s proactive efforts to prevent the introduction and spread of the disease in the United States, Canada and Mexico. “We are more encouraged by...
Read MorePesticides
Is this treatment really necessary in 2015? Do people think that a process which ends with a sign being erected warning them of pesticide and to stay clear for at least 24 hours, with a crossed out circle featuring a pet and a child, is somehow going to mean they have a healthy yard? How can anyone think these chemicals will not harm them, not to mention the environment, for a prolonged period of time? These little things drive me crazy, especially when my name is attached to it…we need to stop making some yards into fields of death, and besides that, what is the prettiest picture of...
Read MoreLyme Disease
I have Lyme disease. Thankfully most people have now heard of Lyme disease, but for those who have not, Lyme borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type and transmitted to humans (or pets!) by a black-legged/deer tick bite and subsequent feeding by the parasite. It typically takes 24 or maybe 36-48 hours of feeding for the disease to be transmitted if the tick is a carrier, though this is not a guarantee either direction. Lyme disease can cause flu-like symptoms nearly immediately, and if untreated they can be followed by severe headaches, joint and muscle...
Read MoreDeer Tick
Whether it is a warm and sunny day or a cool, cloudy one you can now expect to find some ticks outdoors, especially in edge habitats. The photo shows a tick I recently pulled off of my dog on an inch ruler. In western New York this is rarely a problem, and only a handful of sites have any ticks to be found. However, in places like Connecticut the population is robust, booming, and filled with diseases. Any time that you or your dog goes outdoors this spring, and throughout the year really, you should be mindful of ticks. The best way to protect yourself is to stay covered, change your...
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