Fellow List-serve members:
I want to present an opportunity for discussion and perhaps suggest an
important stewardship opportunity that we all could take to help better
understand or reduce the prevalence of tick borne disease in our environment,
particularly Lyme disease in Suffolk County.
Question:
Do un-managed nest boxes increase density and survival of white-footed mice
populations?
Validation for Question:
White-footed mice are the reservoir species that enable the Lyme disease
pathogen to continue to persist in our environment.
Background:
Tick borne disease ecology involves the pathogen (spirochete for Lyme), a
reservioir species to store the disease in the environment (whitefooted mouse),
a vector (deer ticks), and several hosts (deer, domestic animals, small
mammals, humans, birds... I actually observed a female Scarlet Tanager with 2
deer ticks around its eye-ring, but turkey are more common hosts). Other
tertiary components are climate, habitat loss, over population of white-tailed
deer, oak production of acorns, gypsy moth population, presence of avian
mammalian predators, etc. The disease starts with the mouse, the nymph stage
tick gets it from a disease carrying mouse, and can transmit it to the hosts it
feeds on. Adult female ticks can give the disease to their offspring ticks, but
it is less common, and the disease does not come from the deer. The deer
however promote more ticks.
Discussion/Opinion:
While walking through a preserve in eastern Suffolk county this past weekend, I
came across a fallen Screech Owl nest box. So I opened it wondering if I would
find mice. There were 12 mice. I am not a mammalogist but I think they were
white footed mice, I have photos.
I have observed mice in Wood Duck, Wren and E. Bluebird nest boxes as well.
I make a claim that perhaps an unintended side effect, with negative
consequences to human and ecosystem health, of nest boxes that are left
un-managed is the promotion of white-footed mice populations. I have no data or
research with a control to prove that nest boxes cause disease prevalence.
I am trying to suggest that as active birders we could be proactive and empty
more nest boxes that we come across in our birding affairs, especially adjacent
to woodland landscapes.
An entire research methodology can be implemented to address this. That is very
interesting to me, but is not my point in this email. I am not asking anyone to
kill the mice, or deer, and I am not certain that the mice won't be back in the
box the next day after they are removed. Perhaps apex avian predators need
these mice to feed on (obviously nest boxes are a good hideout for mice). I am
not even sure if all box nesting avian species should have their historic nest
removed each year. I just wanted to raise this case and see what others think
about this.
Any comments or suggested reading on this subject?
Peter Priolo
Center Moriches
--
NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm
ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
--
