Contact Information - Chappaquiddick Island Association

 Contact Information Dick Johnson – Would be happy to meet with people at the
community center or wherever if they would like to have a more in
depth discussion or ask questions, so please offer that choice if you
want to.
Feel free to email or call 508 693-1893. rwilcoxjohnson@yahoo.com
Alan Van Arsdale – vanarsdale.alan@epa.gov.
Highlights of Lone Star Tick Information on Chappaquiddick
Prepared by Dick Johnson, July 30, 2015
1. I found the greatest number of lone star ticks on private properties near the
lighthouse on Cape Poge.
In June and July of 2015 I surveyed 5 private properties for ticks. I found over 250
lone star ticks. In some places I collected more lone star ticks than dog ticks or deer
ticks.
For comparison, in 2014 I surveyed 82 properties on “mainland” Chappaquiddick
(not Cape Poge) and found a total of 43 lone star ticks. In 2015 I surveyed 26
properties, many of them the same as 2014, and found 70 lone star ticks.
2. The lone star ticks are not confined to Cape Poge, at this time my best
guess is that 1/4 to 1/3 of the properties on Chappaquiddick have lone star
ticks present.
In 2014 I surveyed 82 properties on “mainland” Chappaquiddick and found lone star
ticks on 22 of these properties (27%).
In 2015 I surveyed 29 properties on “mainland” Chappaquiddick and found lone star
ticks on 24 of these properties, with a total of 70 lone star ticks. (Note that these 29
properties are not a representative sample of mainland Chappaquiddick, 22 of the
29 were specifically chosen because I found lone star ticks in 2014)
3. Lone star ticks are present in low numbers on “mainland” Chappaquiddick.
Outside of Cape Poge, when I found lone star ticks I generally only found 1 to 4 per
property. Of the 24 non-Cape Poge properties where I found lone star ticks in 2015,
only four properties had 5 or more lone star ticks.
4. Preliminary data suggests that the lone star persist on properties from
year to year
In 2015 I resurveyed 18 of the 22 properties where I found lone star ticks in 2014; 15
of the 18 had lone star ticks again in 2015.
What next?
We now know that lone star ticks are widespread on Chappaquiddick and present in
high densities in at least one part of Cape Poge. Overall they are much more
prevalent than any of us suspected.
The obvious question is what does this mean and how should we respond?
Unfortunately I think we are charting new territory here-my first look at the scientific
and popular literature has not reveled any integrated plans for dealing with lone star
ticks, much less a “silver bullet “ solution to the problem.
One thing we need to know as we begin to formulate a plan is whether lone star
ticks are breeding on Chappaquiddick. Prior to this year I would have said probably
not; now I would say I believe they are. In Rhode Island, lone star eggs hatch from
mid-August through September.
The only way to positively confirm that lone star ticks are breeding on
Chappaquiddick is to find the larvae. Starting in mid-August I will be returning to
properties where I found lone star ticks to look for “nests” of larvae as they hatch.
With the property owner’s permission I plan to spray the nests with a clovepeppermint based spray that should kill the larvae.
If the MV Tick-Borne Illness Prevention Program still has funds, I hope to spend time
this winter on a more detailed literature search as well as talking to people where
lone star ticks are a problem to see what control measures they have tried and if
they feel any of them are effective. I am particularly interested in talking to people
on Prudence Island, Rhode Island and Long Island, New York. Both of these areas
have similar habitat to Martha’s Vineyard and both are experiencing serious
problems with lone star ticks, with numbers that are reported to be much greater
than on Chappaquiddick.
What to do in the meantime?
Until we figure out how to deal with lone star ticks on a property and landscape level,
the best we can do is take personal protective measures. Protective measures
against lone star ticks are the same as other ticks.
a. If you are working or walking in tick infested areas, ideally you should wear long
pants tucked into your socks. Wearing pants and socks treated with permethen
increases the protection greatly.
b. If you don’t want to wear long pants or permethren treated clothing, apply bug
repellant to your feet, legs and arms and other bare skin. A repellant with 25%
deet has been shown to be most effective. If you do not want to use deet, there
are a number of other repellants that rely on peppermint, cloves or other herbal
ingredients.
c. Of course, a thorough tick check is very important, preferably including a shower
as soon as possible.
For more information on personal precautions and things you can do around your yard
to reduce ticks in general, hopefully including lone star ticks, please see the boards of
health website:
www.mvboh.org
tickinfo.com
Your Best Source For Learning About And Protecting Yourself from Ticks
Lone Star Tick
Nick Names: Lone Star, Seed ticks
Common Names: Lone Star
Formal Names: Amblyomma americanum
Description: The female is easily distinguished from any other tick by her pronounced white dot or star in the center of her back. The star is actually part of he
Repellents: Permethrin clothing treatment kills ticks and deet-based skin repellent helps repel them.
Diseases: Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, Tularemia and suspected of Lyme Disease and possibly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. New information is available
Tick Species
COPIED FROM THE CDC WEBSITE AS A PUBLIC SERVICE. Recent media reports have generated some confusion about the lone star tick and its relationsh
The lone star tick does not transmit Lyme disease. Patients bitten by lone star ticks will occasionally develop a circular rash similar to the rash of early Lyme dise
burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The rash may be accompanied by fatigue, headache, fever, and muscle and joint pains. This condition has b
accompanying symptoms have resolved following treatment with oral antibiotics. STARI has not been linked to any arthritic, neurological, or chronic symptoms.
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is found throughout the southeastern and south-central states. The distribution, range and abundance of the lone star
Maine and as far west as central Texas and Oklahoma. All three life stages (larva, nymph, adult) of the lone star tick will feed on humans, and may be quite aggre
home on pets. The saliva from lone star ticks can be irritating; redness and discomfort at a bite site does not necessarily indicate an infection.
Tick-borne illness may be prevented by avoiding tick habitat (dense woods and brushy areas), using insect repellents containing DEET or permethrin, wearing lo
monitor their health closely after any tick bite, and should consult their physician if they experience a rash, fever, headache, joint or muscle pains, or swollen lym
Left to Right: nymph, female, male
Left to Right: female, male
Left to Right: unengorged female, 1/4 engorged, 1/2 engorged and fully engorged. Notice how star continues relationship to mouthparts? The star is part of the
their relationship to the mouthparts.
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A tick bite can make you
allergic to red meat
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A bug can turn you into a vegetarian, or at least make you swear off red meat.
Doctors across the nation are seeing a surge of sudden meat allergies in people
bitten by a certain kind of tick.
This bizarre problem was only discovered a few years ago but is growing as the
ticks spread from the Southwest and the East to more parts of the United States.
In some cases, eating a burger or a steak has landed people in the hospital with
severe allergic reactions.
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Few patients seem aware of the risk, and even doctors are slow to recognize it. As
one allergist who has seen 200 cases on New York's Long Island said, "Why would
someone think they're allergic to meat when they've been eating it their whole
life?"
The culprit is the Lone Star tick, named for Texas, a state famous for meaty
barbecues. The tick is now found throughout the South and the eastern half of the
United States.
Researchers think some other types of ticks also might cause meat allergies; cases
have been reported in Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Japan and
Korea.
Here's how it happens: The bugs harbor a sugar that humans don't have, called
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alpha-gal. The sugar is also is found in red meat - beef, pork, venison, rabbit - and
even some dairy products. It's usually fine when people encounter it through food
that gets digested.
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But a tick bite triggers an immune system response, and in that high-alert state,
the body perceives the sugar the tick transmitted to the victim's bloodstream and
skin as a foreign substance, and makes antibodies to it. That sets the stage for an
allergic reaction the next time the person eats red meat and encounters the sugar.
It happened last summer to Louise Danzig, a 63-year-old retired nurse from
Montauk on eastern Long Island.
Hours after eating a burger, "I woke up with very swollen hands that were on fire
with itching," she said. As she headed downstairs, "I could feel my lips and tongue
were getting swollen," and by the time she made a phone call for help, "I was
losing my ability to speak and my airway was closing."
She had had recent tick bites, and a blood test confirmed the meat allergy.
"I'll never have another hamburger, I'm sure," Danzig said. "I definitely do not
want to have that happen to me again."
In Mount Juliet near Nashville, Tennessee, 71-year-old Georgette Simmons went
to a steakhouse on June 1 for a friend's birthday and had a steak.
"About 4:30 in the morning I woke up and my body was on fire. I was itching all
over and I broke out in hives. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before,"
she said.
A few weeks later, for a brother's birthday, she ordered another steak. Hours later
she woke "almost hysterical" with a constricted throat in addition to hives and a
burning sensation. She, too, recalled tick bites.
Dr. Robert Valet at Vanderbilt University said Simmons was one of two patients he
diagnosed with the meat allergy that day. He warned her it could be worse next
time.
"I never did eat a lot of red meat anyway but when I go out I like a nice fillet. Right
now I wouldn't even eat hamburger meat," Simmons said.
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At the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, "I see two to three new cases every
week," said Dr. Scott Commins, who with a colleague, Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills,
published the first paper tying the tick to the illness in 2011.
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One of the first cases they saw was a bow hunter who had eaten meat all his life
but landed in the emergency department several times with allergic reactions after
eating meat. More cases kept turning up in people who were outdoors a lot.
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"It seemed something geographical. We thought at first it might be a squirrel
parasite," Commins said. "It took us a while to sort of put everything together" and
finger the tick, he said.
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Dr. Erin McGintee, an allergy specialist on eastern Long Island, an area with many
ticks, has seen nearly 200 cases over the last three years. At least 30 involved
children, and the youngest was 4 or 5. She is keeping a database to study the
illness with other researchers.
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"It is bizarre," she said. "It goes against almost anything I've ever learned as an
allergist," because the symptoms can occur as long as eight hours after eating
meat, rather than immediately, and the culprit is a sugar - a type of carbohydrate whereas most food allergies are caused by proteins, she said.
Allergic reactions can be treated with antihistamines to ease itching, and more
severe ones with epinephrine. Some people with the allergy now carry epinephrine
shots in case they are stricken again.
Doctors don't know if the allergy is permanent. Some patients show signs of
declining antibodies over time, although those with severe reactions are
understandably reluctant to risk eating meat again. Even poultry products such as
turkey sausage sometimes contain meat byproducts and can trigger the allergy.
"We don't really know yet how durable this will be" or whether it's lifelong, like a
shellfish allergy, Valet said.
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The meat allergy "does not seem to be lifelong, but the caveat is, additional tick
bites bring it back," Commins said.
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Michael Abley, who is 74 and lives in Surry, Virginia, near Williamsburg, comes
from a family of cattle ranchers and grew up eating meat. He developed the meat
allergy more than a decade ago, although it was only tied to the tick in more recent
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"Normally I can eat a little bit of dairy," he said, but some ice cream landed him in
an emergency room about a month ago. He admitted having had recent bug bites.
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rewritten, or redistributed.
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Lone star tick a concern, but not for Lyme disease
Many people, even health care providers, can be confused about whether the lone star tick causes
Lyme disease. It does not. Patients bitten by lone star ticks will occasionally develop a circular rash
similar to the rash of early Lyme disease. The cause of this rash has not been determined; however,
studies have shown that the rash is not caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes
Lyme disease.
This condition has been named southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI). The rash may
sometimes be accompanied by fatigue, headache, fever, and muscle pains. In the cases of STARI
studied to date, the rash and accompanying symptoms have resolved following treatment with an oral
antibiotic (doxycycline), but it is unknown whether this medication speeds recovery. STARI has not
been linked to arthritis, neurologic disease, or chronic symptoms. Researchers once hypothesized that
STARI was caused by the spirochete, Borrelia lonestari, however further research did not support
this idea. The cause of STARI remains unknown.
Lone star ticks have not been shown to transmit Borrelia burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme disease. In fact, their saliva has been shown to kill Borrelia (Lerdin et al,
2005, Zeidner et al, 2009).
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is found throughout the eastern, southeastern and
south-central states. The distribution, range and abundance of the lone star tick have increased over
the past 20-30 years, and lone star ticks have been recorded in large numbers as far north as Maine
and as far west as central Texas and Oklahoma. All three life stages (larva, nymph, adult) of the lone
star tick will feed on humans, and may be quite aggressive. Lone star ticks will also feed readily on
other animals, including dogs and cats, and may be brought into the home on pets. The saliva from
lone star ticks can be irritating; redness and discomfort at a bite site does not necessarily indicate an
infection.
People should monitor their health closely after any tick bite, and should consult their physician if
they experience a rash, fever, headache, joint or muscle pains, or swollen lymph nodes within 30 days
of a tick bite. These can be signs of a number of tickborne diseases (/ticks/diseases/index.html) .
Tick-borne illness may be prevented by avoiding tick habitat (dense woods and brushy areas), using
insect repellents containing DEET or permethrin, wearing long pants and socks, and performing tick
checks and promptly removing ticks after outdoor activity. Additional prevention tips
(/ticks/avoid/index.html) are available.
Study results: Distinctions between STARI and Lyme disease
symptoms
In a study that compared physical findings from STARI patients in Missouri with Lyme disease
patients in New York (Wormser et al, 2005), several key differences were noted:
Patients with STARI were more likely to recall a tick bite than were patients with Lyme disease.
The time period from tick bite to onset of the skin lesion was shorter among patients with
STARI (6 days, on average).
STARI patients with an erythema migrans rash were less likely to have other symptoms than
were Lyme disease patients with erythema migrans rash.
STARI patients were less likely to have multiple skin lesions, had lesions that were smaller in
size than Lyme disease patients (6-10 cm for STARI vs. 6-28 cm for Lyme disease), and had
lesions that were more circular in shape and with more central clearing.
After antibiotic treatment, STARI patients recovered more rapidly than did Lyme disease
patients.
Page last reviewed: October 21, 2011
Page last updated: October 21, 2011
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30329-4027,
USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348 - Contact CDC–INFO
How one tick bite can lead to a life-threatening
meat allergy
BY RUTH TAM September 3, 2014 at 4:26 PM EDT
Researchers believe the Lone Star tick is at the root of a troubling new meat allergy. Image by Lyle Buss
One night in the summer of 2009, Jeremy Spittle emerged from a hot tub covered in hives that
itched “four times more than poison ivy.” For months, his skin broke out like this every few days.
The only thing that helped was doubling – sometimes quadrupling – the recommended dose of
Benadryl. One time, the reaction was so bad it required a trip to the emergency room. Another
time, Spittle fainted in the bathroom, hitting his head on the sink as he fell.
He tried cutting alcohol from his diet. Then milk. Then vegetables. It was during this “trial and
error period” that Spittle’s father stumbled across a Washington Post article detailing cases of a
new meat allergy with symptoms ranging from hives to anaphylactic shock. The cause?
The Lone Star tick.
Spittle, 33, who lived in
Nokesville, Virginia and
worked frequently outdoors for Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, had been bitten by
multiple ticks earlier that spring. The stories and symptoms in the article seemed to echo his
experience. Was this tick at the root of his problems, he wondered?
The Lone Star tick is a medium-sized, reddish-brown tick that’s common in the Southeastern
United States. It gets its name from a white dot found on the backs of all female adults. Nymphs
are the size of a lower-case “o” in newspaper print, expanding to the size of a zero when fully
engorged, said Phillip Kaufman, associate professor and entomologist at the University of
Florida. Adults are the size of a capital “C,” but engorged, can swell as large as a raisin.
Lone Star ticks bite humans by inserting needle-like mouth parts into the skin, while backwardfacing teeth act as hooks, securing them in place. They also secrete a cement-like substance
that helps them to stay attached, Kaufman said.
Approximate distribution of the Lone Star tick. Map courtesy of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though it hasn’t been scientifically proven, researchers think the Lone Star tick produces a
sugar from its gut called galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, or “Alpha-Gal.” In some cases, the
human immune system develops an allergic response to that sugar. Because Alpha-Gal is also
found in red meat, a bite by the Lone Star tick may translate to an allergic reaction to anything
from beef hamburgers to bacon. Repeated tick bites can potentially cause the antibody level of
Alpha-Gal to rise, worsening reactions.
The Washington Post article Spittle’s father had found referenced a University of Virginia study
conducted by an immunologist named Scott Commins. Desperate, Spittle tracked down
Commins and sent an email. ‘Hey, I read this article,” he wrote. “I may have this thing. Can you
test me?”
Commins responded the next day, and in early November, Spittle drove to Charlottesville,
Virginia where his blood was tested for reactions to cat, dog, pork and beef extract. Results
showed high antibody levels for Alpha-Gal. He was allergic to red meat.
According to Commins, more than 2,000 known cases have cropped up in less than 10 years in
the U.S. Cases have also been reported in Australia, Germany, Japan and on the Panama Canal’s
tiny Barro Colorado Island, which contains a rainforest preserve teeming with species.
Hives are the most common symptom, but others include
swelling and symptoms linked to anaphylactic shock, such as
vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing and a drop in blood
pressure, according to a report by the Vanderbilt University
Medical Center: “Persons with the allergy can go into a delayed
anaphylactic shock four-six hours a!er eating red meat,” the
report reads.
Vanderbilt University’s Dr. Robert Valet, who works at the
hospital’s allergy clinic four days a week, sees one to two new
cases a day, he said. The allergy has the potential to be deadly, he
said, though no one to his knowledge has died of it.
Researchers have demonstrated the allergy’s association with tick
A female Lone Star Tick sits on a
blade of grass. Image by Kallista
Images and Getty Images
bites and a delay between the bite and reaction. (For Spittle, that delay was as long as a month.)
They also know that it does not increase risk for asthma. Still unclear, Commins said, is what’s
caused the recent surge in allergies and whether Alpha Gal is indeed at the root of the problem.
“While the scientific community has demonstrated that there’s Alpha-Gal in the gut of the
Ixodes ticks in Sweden, we don’t have that evidence in Lone Stars,” Commins said.
Valet says that a lack of exposure to good bacteria may leave immune systems more vulnerable
to this kind of infection. This is known as the hygiene hypothesis.
“Good bacteria is important to help train our immune system to do normal things,” Valet said.
“Without exposure to good bacteria, your immune system won’t recognize things that aren’t
dangerous. In this case, red meat.”
Spittle’s doctor doesn’t buy the ‘hygiene hypothesis.’
“The hygiene hypothesis has more to do with clean drinking water and basic protection,”
Commins said. “We’ve had basic hygiene for a long time. That doesn’t explain this sudden
A blood-fed, engorged female lone star tick, or Amblyomma americanum. Image by Lyle Buss.
outbreak.”
Recent cases have not given researchers enough time to study the allergy, Commins said. Other
culprits could include a new tick-based bacteria or organism, or the way humans process and
handle meat.
Spittle said was not surprised by his diagnosis.
“I was working indoors and outdoors at the time,” he said. “I always had ticks on me and they
were biting all the time,” he said.
Though there is no indication how long Spittle’s allergy will last, it’s possible that it may
improve over time, Valet said.
When it comes to allergies, the human immune system has a “memory,” Valet said. Proteins
found in peanuts and eggs trigger the immune system faster than the proteins found in Alpha
Gal sugar, which takes longer for the immune system to recognize. This explains the red meat
allergy’s delayed reaction, he said. Doctors hope the allergy will be less durable than others
since it’s caused by a sugar, he added.
“Once this starts, there’s not a way to make this stop,” said Valet. “If you can avoid [repeated tick
bites], your antibody levels go down. But prevention is important. It should be something that’s
100 percent preventable.”
Commins, who enjoys hiking and fishing himself, advises fellow outdoorsmen to wear bug spray
and layers and to check for ticks a!er being outside.
Since his diagnosis, Spittle has been red-meat free. Before his diagnosis, he was eating it nearly
every day.
“The worst was when I’d have a McDouble or something like that,” he said. “Some people have it
worse where they can’t even inhale the smoke from a grill used for red meat.”
Now, Spittle sticks to chicken, seafood and turkey and can still drink milk, eat cheese and have
real butter. Despite cutting out a large part of his diet, he has no regrets. His wife Samantha
helped him through the worst of the allergy, and his two children born a!er his diagnosis
“couldn’t be healthier.”
“People always look at me with a puzzled look when I say ‘I’m allergic to red meat,’ Spittle said.
“Typically, the next thing out of their mouth is, ‘I would just die if I couldn’t eat red meat.’”
“I’m always tempted to throw back, ‘I would just die if I ate red meat,’ but I haven’t felt the need
to do so just yet.”
Jenny Marder contributed to this report.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the
formal name of the sugar, Alpha Gal. It is galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose.
Lone Star tick
Amblyomma americanum
Where found: Widely distributed in the southeastern and eastern United
States.
Transmits: Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii (which cause human
ehrlichiosis), tularemia, and STARI.
Comments: A very aggressive tick that bites humans. The adult female is
distinguished by a white dot or “lone star” on her back. Lone star tick saliva
can be irritating; redness and discomfort at a bite site does not necessarily
indicate an infection. The nymph and adult females most frequently bite
humans and transmit disease.
Page last reviewed: October 23, 2014
Page last updated: October 23, 2014
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/)
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) (http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid)
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD) (http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/index.html)
Tickborne Diseases of the United States
In the United States, some ticks carry pathogens that can cause human disease, including:
Anaplasmosis (http://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/) is transmitted to humans by tick bites primarily from the blacklegged tick
(Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific
coast.
Babesiosis (http://www.cdc.gov/babesiosis/) is caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells. Most human cases of
babesiosis in the U.S. are caused by Babesia microti. Babesia microti is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and is
found primarily in the northeast and upper midwest.
Borrelia miyamotoi (http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/miyamotoi.html) infection has recently been described as a cause of illness in
the U.S. It is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and has a range similar to that of Lyme disease.
Colorado tick fever (http://www.cdc.gov/coloradotickfever/) is caused by a virus transmitted by the Rocky Mountain wood tick
(Dermacentor andersoni). It occurs in the the Rocky Mountain states at elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet.
Ehrlichiosis (http://www.cdc.gov/ehrlichiosis/) is transmitted to humans by the lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum), found
primarily in the southcentral and eastern U.S.
Heartland virus (http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/heartland/index.html) infection has been identified in eight patients in
Missouri and Tennessee as of March 2014. Studies suggest that Lone Star ticks may transmit the virus. It is unknown if the virus may be
found in other areas of the U.S.
Lyme disease (http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/) is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern U.S. and
upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific coast.
Powassan disease (http://www.cdc.gov/powassan/) is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the groundhog
tick (Ixodes cookei). Cases have been reported primarily from northeastern states and the Great Lakes region.
Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis (http://www.cdc.gov/otherspottedfever/) is transmitted to humans by the Gulf Coast tick
(Amblyomma maculatum).
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) (http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/) is transmitted by the American dog tick (Dermacentor
variabilis), Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sangunineus) in the U.S. The
brown dog tick and other tick species are associated with RMSF in Central and South America.
STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness) (http://www.cdc.gov/stari/) is transmitted via bites from the lone star tick
(Ambylomma americanum), found in the southeastern and eastern U.S.
Tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) (http://www.cdc.gov/relapsing-fever/) is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected
soft ticks. TBRF has been reported in 15 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and is associated with sleeping in rustic cabins and vacation homes.
Tularemia (http://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/) is transmitted to humans by the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the wood tick
(Dermacentor andersoni), and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Tularemia occurs throughout the U.S.
364D rickettsiosis (http://www.cdc.gov/otherspottedfever/) (Rickettsia phillipi, proposed) is transmitted to humans by the
Pacific Coast tick (Dermacentor occidentalis ticks). This is a new disease that has been found in California.
Additional Reading
Krause PJ, Narasimhan S, Wormser GP, Barbour AG, Platonov AE, Brancato J, et al. Borrelia miyamotoi
(http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/7/13-1587_article) sensu lato seroreactivity and seroprevalence in the northeastern United
States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 July (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/7/13-1587_article).
Muehlenbachs A, Fata CR, Lambert AJ, Paddock CD, Velez JO, Blau DM, Staples JE, Karlekar MB, Bhatnagar J, Nasci RS, Zaki SR.
Heartland virus associated death in Tennessee (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24917656). Clin Infect Dis. 2014 Jun 9. pii:
ciu434. [Epub ahead of print]
Page last reviewed: June 1, 2015
Page last updated: June 1, 2015
Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/)
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) (http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid)
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD) (http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/index.html)
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Patio, Lawn & Garden › Pest Control › Repellents
Damminix 27203 Tick Tube, 24-Pack
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Permethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid is based on a natural
compound extracted from chrysanthemum
Tick tubes deliver tick-controlling permethrin
You can place biodegradable damminix tick tubes around your
property in the spring and fall
Mice collect the permethrin treated material to line their nests,
the deer ticks on the mice die
One box of 24 covers 1/2 acre of land
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36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Careful about what your buying...
By kk dreams on April 5, 2012
The Damminix Tick Tubes are the greatest invention since the telephone but previous reviewer is right
about being cautious about what you buy. Every year, I purchase a box of 24 from THE DAMMINIX
website and it lasts the whole year (Spring & Fall Applications). My son, the tick magnet, can't believe he
comes in from our yard and he and my German Shepherds are not "carrying." Last year, Damminix
stopped using those green tube your seeing on other sites and started packaging their product in a
camouflage tube so they weren't so noticeable in the front yard. Love, love, love this product!
1 Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
Good idea...but know the nesting
season for rodents.
I think I bought them too late in the season (mid June)
and no critter went near them. All the cotton balls were
there.
Published 8 days ago by martha
Five Stars
No
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Tick Tubes are the best!!!
These are working. No ticks this year as opposed to last
year we had a ton.
Published 14 days ago by Nshtok
By Amazon Customer on June 6, 2012
What is most interesting is that this product is cheaper here than the company's own website by a few
cents -- but really, does it matter when you don't have to be as neurotic about checking for ticks? Between
my little ones and long-haired dog, we find a few scary ticks embedded, even with careful checking, each
summer. Last summer my three-year-old had to have a course or prophylactic antibiotics because of a
rash on her lower scalp. Well that scared me enough. You will need 1 box of 24 of these a year for a yard
that is about 1/2 acre -- 12 for April and 12 for July. It's good to know though, if you need more or less, that
these don't expire, so you can just keep any extras until next year. I wish that had been clearer
Damminix
Now this is a product I wish was more affordable. It
solves the deer tick issue at the root but it's so dang
expensive, few are willing to try. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Brown
Excellent solution
Conclusion:
somewhere on here. Also, ticks don't like low lawns, so if you have a yard that is all bowling green, you
wont need as many (as, for example, a heavily wooded one). Hope that helps! Thanks for making this
great product!
(p.s. Permethrin, the chemical in here, is the same one that kills bedbugs, lice, and roaches. Should I buy
these for hotels, my kids' lockers? Seriously!!
Was this review helpful to you?
1 Comment
Yes
No
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4 years and running - BEST PRODUCT!!!
Maybe I shouldn't jinx myself, but these things are
AWESOME. Haven't found a single tick in my yard or on
the family since we started using these last year. Read
more
Published 18 days ago by Molly C
Tick prevention
I hate ticks. I bought these to help with ticks in our yard.
I read that they usually come in from mice. Seems to be
a reduction in ticks so far this season.
By Retrievin'Gold on April 28, 2013
Published 20 days ago by NHmom
We just put down this year's tick tubes - our 4th year of using them. We have woods that border our
grassy areas and I feel quite certain that both my younger dog and myself contracted Lyme a few years
back as a result of those woods. Thankfully, we have seen a steady reduction of ticks on our property
since using Tick Tubes. In fact, we haven't seen one yet this year even though we have heard that they
are already out in full force. It's amazing how quickly you will come to know just where the mice habitats
are on your property once you see the cotton balls disappearing from the tubes. This is one of the best
products of the decade, imo!!
We are in CT and have several acres of lawn bordering
woods that are thick with deer and mice. We are on
year three of using the Damminix tubes to help control
the ticks and are... Read more
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
they really work
Verified Purchase
Five Stars
last year I paid a service to treat my property for ticks. They used tick tubes and they worked really well.
This year I found these on Amazon and have been very happy to have the same benefits without the high
cost of a service. They are easy to put down around the property and they work.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Get rid of ticks without poisoning your pets
By Elizabeth Lynch on December 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
These really work and are so easy. We live in a wooded area and were always taking ticks off our dogs
and getting our dogs treated for tick borne illnesses. Did not see a single tick the rest of the summer.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
WORKS EVEN IN HEAVILY WOODED, WILD AREA!!!
By S. McNeese on July 20, 2014
Verified Purchase
I live in a heavily wooded area in the Ozarks and starting using these just last year. Controlled studies
show a 90%+ decrease in the tick population when used, but I wasn't expecting anything nearly so
dramatic at my place. It's 15 acres in the back-of-beyond, no lawn to speak of -- mainly wildflowers and
grasses waist high, leaves left right where they fall each year, etc.
I ordered from Damminix 24 tubes and then made up about 45 extras of my own with cardboard tubes cut
in half from paper towel rolls. This didn't cover the entire 15 acres, of course, just the areas where I mainly
walk and live. With nothing but wilderness for miles around, I wasn't even hoping for anything like the
published results given for using these tubes on a manicured suburban lot, I was just hoping for some
improvement and trying to be optimistic (although I suspected this was going to be a waste of time and
money).
But I am pleased to report that this stuff really works!!!! I was able to do only one application last year and
missed doing it again this spring due to travel, but the tick population is probably down at least 75% in
areas treated, maybe as high as 80 to 85%. My dog has had 4 ticks all season, compared to a half-dozen
a week last year. The Frontline was killing them, but I would still find them dead all over the bed -- yuck.
He's strictly an inside dog, walked on a leash along our dirt road twice a day and before the tick tubes he
was a little tick magnet. Neighbors are reporting ticks just as bad as ever in spite of the horrible winter last
year, and a recent gardening publication for our area lamented the fact that the severe freezes hadn't
knocked back the ticks at all, so the rather startling improvement at my place can only be attributed to the
tubes. Read more ›
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
ticks
Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
part of the strategy
helps in tick control
Tick tubes work great.
We have used these for the past 3 years to control ticks
at our lake house. We have found that the incidence of
ticks has been dramatically decreased. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Debbie Kane
Search Customer Reviews
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Submit
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Was this review helpful to you?
Excellent product
Published 1 month ago by Harvey Maltz
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1 Comment
Fast and Simple
Published 1 month ago by Ducky
By John on June 23, 2013
Comment
Published 24 days ago by DLR
Does the trick in eliminating ticks. It's as simple as
walking around and tucking it in areas that you need it.
Read more
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Comment
Works for us in CT
Yes
No
By Judith on May 19, 2013
Verified Purchase
My husband and I have had Lyme Disease twice. I will, and do anything to contain the ticks. This is my
third year using The tick tubes and I definitely see a reduction. Also use natural bug repellants when
outdoors.
Was this review helpful to you?
1 Comment
Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Easy to use, good solution
By bikingbabe in MA on July 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
I put these all around wood piles, in the garage, in the shed etc. so that the mice would not have to look
far to get nesting material. It seems to have worked as many of the tubes are now empty and hopefully
there will be fewer ticks in the yard.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
See all 57 customer reviews (newest first)
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Keep Connected...
(http://facebook.com/YC2N.nature)
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(http://twitter.com/YC2N)
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Your Connection To Nature (/)
HOME (/)
PROGRAMS (/PROGRAMS.HTML)
ECOTOURS (/ECOTOURS.HTML)
SUMMERCAMP (/SUMMERCAMP.HTML)
Bobwhite Quail vs. Tick Study
A Community Conservation Experiment
BWQ Flier (free PDF download)
(/uploads/2/2/9/6/22969936/bwq_v_ticks_study_flier.pdf)
The 12th Annual Bobwhite Quail
Public Release 2015
(/uploads/2/2/9/6/22969936/bwq_release_2015.pdf) (Click on the picture to download the Release Date Flier
(/uploads/2/2/9/6/22969936/bwq_release_2015.pdf))
Open to the public! Special invitation to all the participating
schools, teachers, children and their families!!!!
Hosted by Ranger Eric, Biologist with YOUR CONNECTION TO
NATURE.
Saturday July 18, 2015 @9:30am
Caleb Smith State Park Preserve located at 641 W Jericho Tpke, Smithtown NY 11787
and also:
Saturday July 18, 2015 @2pm
Brookhaven State Park located on William Floyd Parkway and Whiskey Road, Ridge, NY
NOTE: Participating classes are asked to bring one box/cat carrier per class for your very own extra special release further out in the Park!
Bring your camera and get ready to watch these Quail take their first flight into freedom, and hopefully restart their historic populations on Long Island. But in the
meantime, they'll be out there gobbling up ticks, spiders, grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and lots of seeds of weeds, and much more...so that you and I can
enjoy our Parks with fewer ticks!
Please help support our project by coming to the release and / or passing around our flier...a free download...click orange button above.
See you there!
Ranger Eric started this study in 1999 as he noticed the population of
ticks inexplicably rising. By 2002, he had started asking teachers to switch to
quail eggs for their incubation studies and then donate their chicks to be
released as part of our study. Within 24-hours of release, we noticed a drastic
drop in tick numbers. We knew we had something special, but proving it with
scientific methods has been an ongoing challenge. Seeing the overwhelming
popularity of our project, several other organizations on Long Island have now
started their own Quail Releases as well...but ours is still the original and most
popular. Our public quail releases continue to draw crowds of 200+ children
and adults!!!
In our study we are attempting to show that by restoring Quail habitat on Long
Island and releasing native Northern Bobwhite Quail birds back into our local
environment, we can effectively reduce the numbers of ticks naturally, instead
of using toxic pesticides.
Feral cats, as well as indoor-outdoor cats, also take a massive toll on our
ground-dwelling birds, such as bobwhite quail. Some people make the
argument that it is because so many people now have indoor-outdoor cats that
we have in fact largely wiped out our quail populations on Long Island...
eliminating the main tick predators...thereby creating the high tick population!
Certainly we know that cats have a serious negative impact on the
environment, whether or not they are largely responsible for our tick
populations I don't know, but from this point forward we should all strive to be
responsible owners and raise our cats as indoor pets.
Our in-school program teaches about every aspect of our study, student
responsibilities as "quail care-takers," how quail help with the balance of nature,
quail ecology, and about the release date. We also highlight animal life-cycles,
bird ecology, the scientific method, outdoor observations and measurements,
handling and raising quail, as well as doing good things for your community.
Starting to grow flight feathers.
A call to action: We are asking teachers (or anyone interested) to incubate
Northern Bobwhite Quail eggs, donate the chicks at 1-2 weeks old. We hope
you call ALL join us for the release date! Please participate in our worthwhile
"real world" science project and join the thousands who have come before you.
Together we will make a positive change for our community and give Mother
Nature a helping hand!
"It adds so much to our classroom curriculum, and
entices the students to learn about all aspects of the
Quail, our environment, and our impact...good or
bad...that we have on our environment. No matter what,
I'm IN again for next year!" -Robin Obey, 2nd Grade Teacher
Resources for the YC2N Quail vs Ticks Study
ABC's "Keep your cats indoor" campaign has valuable resources and stats about feral and indoor/outdoor
cats. http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/get_involved.html
(http://167.206.142.247:86)
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Quails freed to take on ticks in Smithtown
Updated June 30, 2012 9:53 PM
By MACKENZIE ISSLER mackenzie.issler@newsday.com
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Eric Powers holds a quail that was released back into the wild as a way to reduce the high tick population on Long
Island. (June 30, 2012) Photo Credit: Newsday Ed Betz
Eric Powers, known as Ranger Powers to many children,
opened the door to the cage that held 195 bobwhite quails.
Within minutes, the 8-week-old birds emerged and started
foraging for bugs in the grass.
About 200 children and adults watched as the mass of birds
made its way into Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in
Smithtown.
Powers said the birds are used to reduce the tick population on
Most Popular
Long Island, including deer ticks, which can carry Lyme
disease. About 10 school districts had raised the quails in their
Tensions simmer between wineries,
classrooms and gave them to Powers for the release. Powers,
residents
42, of Smithtown, runs his own company, Your Connection to
Nature, and partners with state and county parks on his quail
project.
Christian Filagrossi, 6, waited with his family to see the quails
Teacher missing in nat'l forest from
LI
Cops: 3 men rescued from rip current
released. He had helped raise the birds this past school year in
Robin Obey's kindergarten class at Park Avenue Elementary
School in North Merrick. He said he was happy to see them go,
so they can eat ticks. "I got a tick once, and I hope I don't get it
again."
Cops: Duo bought $60G truck with
fake check
Cops: Man arrested in barbershop
shooting
After the release, several teachers were each given quails to
.
(
/ 0
let go in different areas of the park. "It connects kids to nature,"
)
*
+ , -
Obey said. "We live in a world of technology, and this makes
them care."
'
World
Baby animals
"I know they will have fun when they are released," said Kayla
Rudnitsky, 6, who was also in Obey's class, "and have lots of
places to eat."
Powers started monitoring ticks in the park in 1998. He took
about 25 students on daily hikes and rarely found the bugs on
them. But by 2001, he was counting up to 40 ticks per group.
He asked teachers and their schools to buy and raise local
quails instead of nonnative ducks and chicks. Obey has raised
quails in her classroom for six years. Powers said students are
the "future stewards of the land."
"They are learning ways to appreciate the environment and
how to keep it balanced," he said.
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Thursday
Jun282012
Bobwhite Quails - Natures Way Of Reducing The
Tick Population
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2012 AT 11:11PM
By Chris Biancaniello
(photos added after today’s Bobwhite Quail Release)
Ticks, the cause of such ailments as Lyme disease and
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, have been multiplying
unchecked on Long Island. According to the State
Department of Health since 1986, there have 96,000
reported occurrences of Lyme disease in New York State.
Eric Powers, a Long Island biologist is trying to combat
this with an eco-friendly solution - Bobwhite Quails.
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Bobwhite Quail Release - photo
Smithtown MattersBobwhite Quails, native to Long Island,
were once seen in abundance but as the population of
people grew so did that of one of the quails predators - the
house cat. With the increase in the cat population, the
numbers of Bobwhite Quails started to dwindle and the
tick population began to grow. Mr. Powers believes that the
two are directly correlated. Bobwhite Quails are ground
dwelling birds. They prey upon spiders, grasshoppers, and
most importantly ticks.
That is why this Saturday, June 30th, Mr. Powers is
holding the 9th annual Bobwhite Quail Release in Caleb
Smith State Park, his main area of operation. He will be
releasing over 200 birds in hopes that they will not only
survive and breed, but they will help keep the tick
population in check. The Quails come from classrooms
across Long Island that are teaching incubation to
students. Mr. Powers asked a number of teachers to
incubate Bobwhite Quails instead of ducks. After they
hatch, volunteers within the community help by raising
them to ten weeks, when they are released to high-density
tick populated areas. While Eric Powers releases most of
the Bobwhite Quails, there are times when teachers and
students release them in continuation of their class project.
Since the birds are native to Long Island, there is not much
of a negative impact in releasing them, as opposed to
something foreign that could end up reeking havoc on the
ecosystem. “Lowering the tick population is a side effect of
something that brings the ecosystem back into balance,”
said Powers. The only reason some parks do not allow
Quail releases is because of the changes that are necessary
in order to create an appropriate habitat. “Caleb Smith
State Park is most welcoming to my project. They have
Bobwhite Quail - First to be
made
released. photo Smithtown Matters resources available for
me to not only house the birds, but to also give my
volunteers access after hours to attend to the birds. They
have been very welcoming and very accommodating.”
Truth be told, the lasting success of the project depends
mostly on people. “If we stop our efforts right now, the tick
population in those areas will spike again.
Since the birds are ground dwelling and forage on the
ground in open areas they are easy prey for all kinds of
animals but especially cats. The Bobwhite Quail population
can be decimated very quickly. “It’s mostly because we’re
not addressing the fact that people let their cats out.
Within six months or so after releasing the birds, the same
problem reoccurs.” In fact Powers stated that only about
1% of the birds he releases would survive through the year
to reproduce.
When asked what people can do to help support the cause
he said, “The biggest thing that I’ve noticed is just keeping
your cats indoors. In some towns across Long Island there
are different town ordinances that say it is illegal to let pets
roam the neighborhood. Just keeping pets contained in the
house will have a positive effect on the environment.”
Smithtown
Animal
Shelter
Please
come
down to
the
Smithtown
Animal
Shelter
and fall in
love with
our sweet
sibling
kittens
Sweet Pea
and
Baby!!
They are
3 month
old male
and
female
DSH
adorable
kittens.
They are
fixed,
vaccinated,
microchipped
and
Fiv/Felv
negative.
These 2
furbabies
were
rescued
from the
back of a
leaf truck
when
they were
around 4
weeks
and were
hand
raised
with lots
of love by
one of
our foster
moms.
These 2
kittens
are very
special
and love
Caleb Smith Park Bobwhite Quail Release - photo
Smithtown Matters
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Reader Comments (1)
Great story... Sounds like a win win situation... at least for
the eco system and the students... Maybe not so much for
the Bob Whites unless people keep their cats indoors? Do
we know if the Bob Whites used in the classrooms and
destined for release are native to this area?
Fri, June 29, 2012 | strehy
PART VIII: Species Management
BOBWHITE QUAIL
Michigan is on the northern fringe of the bobwhite quail’s range. Creatures of the
edge, bobwhites prefer grasslands and early successional habitats containing brush
and young trees. They also require a good amount of cropland as a food source. Good
habitat provides a mix of quality nesting and brood areas, winter shelter, and a yearround food source. Populations often fluctuate, sometimes dramatically, with the
severity of winter.
Southern Michigan landowners with 20 or more acres and who provide the right mix of habitat can expect to
enjoy bobwhite quail on their property. They are relatively inconspicuous birds, spending most of their life in
concealing cover. However, they can often be heard as their song is a distinct whistle which seems to say
“bob-WHITE”. Habitat developed for quail will also be of value to rabbits, cardinals, towhees, brown
thrashers, eastern bluebirds, field and song sparrows, and many other grassland and shrub-inhabiting
songbirds.
Life Cycle
The hen locates her nest along field edges, brushy fencerows, and old fields with weeds and grasses. The
average clutch size is 12-14 eggs, with 10-12 of them usually hatching. This large clutch size is the main
reason that bobwhites often rebound dramatically after population lows. The males also contribute to
incubation chores, often sitting on the eggs while the hen is away feeding. Mated pairs stay together for the
entire brood rearing and nesting season, which can begin in April and last until September.
Nest disturbance and predation, along with bad weather and other variables, can contribute to nesting failure
rates as high as 60 to 70 percent. However, bobwhites are strong re-nesters, as hens may lay a second and
third clutch of eggs if the others are destroyed. A good nesting site will be secure from predators. The
bobwhite's main predators at this time of year include skunks, raccoons, foxes snakes, and feral dogs and
cats.
The newly hatched chicks rely heavily on a diet of insects. Insect abundance is provided by legumes, such as
clovers, mixed with grasses and broadleaf weeds. This insect diet will last for about two weeks and then, over
the next six weeks, slowly change to a diet of grain crops and seeds.
Food and Cover Needs
Bobwhite quail have different food and cover requirements throughout the year. As adults, quail feed mainly
on grain crops and weed seeds. Popular weed species include common ragweed, yellow and green foxtail,
beggar's tick, hairy vetch, smartweed, yellow nut sedge, wild sweet pea,
lespedeza, tick clover, and black medic. Preferred grain crops include soybeans,
corn, and grain sorghum. Quail also eat rose hips, acorns, crabapples, and other
shrub fruits. Although ensuring that all needs are met throughout the year is
important, winter is the most critical time for food and shelter availability.
Winter severity is a great equalizer in Michigan for the bobwhite quail. A
succession of mild winters may improve populations to the point where limited
hunting seasons are allowed. Although native to Michigan, quail are limited to those parts of southern
Michigan that receive less than 40 inches of snow per year. They cannot endure prolonged conditions of cold,
or heavy snow or ice accumulation. Because of their high metabolic rates, bobwhites can starve to death in
only three days during severely cold weather, or when ice covers their food. That is why on bitterly cold
days, birds may stay in feeding spots all day, stuffing themselves every 90 minutes, which is how long it takes
them to empty their crops, and returning to the roost early. By comparison, a ring-necked pheasant can
survive up to ten days in winter without eating. Also, pheasants are better equipped than quail for scratching
through snow and ice to reach food.
Unharvested crops and grain food plots provide a good source of
food for quail during critical winter months. Using minimum
tillage practices in the fall leaves waste grain for winter food.
Not harvesting a few rows of grain crops next to travel corridors
or heavy cover areas will also help quail and other wildlife. Food
plots with mature grain mixed with ragweed, lambsquarter,
smart-weed, and foxtail are optimum.
Nesting cover consists of grassland areas, such as idle fields that
have been out of production for one to three years. Good grasses
for nesting include timothy, orchard grass, redtop, Canada wildrye, or mixtures of native warm season grasses.
Optimum escape cover is provided by woody vegetation. This can be in the form of hedgerows and
fencerows, irregular-shaped brushlands, and brushpiles. A dense growth of tall weeds such as ragweed can
also supply some winter cover.
Loafing cover is anything that gives quail protection from predators and weather, yet is open enough to allow
for basking in the sun, preening, and delousing themselves through dust baths. Good loafing cover has some
screening protection, such as high weeds or a canopy of leaves or brush.
Winter roosting cover is usually open, clumpy vegetation that is not located next
to thick escape cover. The best winter roosting areas are provided by erect stands
of grasses and weeds, with a southern exposure. These include stands of foxtail,
switchgrass, and big and little bluestem. Quail will also use roadside ditches
containing bromegrass, or fields of alfalfa or wheat stubble for roosting, although
these are usually poor places to sleep.
Bobwhites roost in the form of a circle. The main reasons for this are to conserve
body heat and to provide 360-degree surveillance of predators. At least seven quail are needed in the circle so
that their tails will converge to trap the heat from the birds' droppings. Feathers and small piles of green-andwhite droppings are clues to roosting sites. To ensure winter survival, hunters should be careful not to reduce
coveys too low.
Management Considerations
The most ideal land-use pattern for quail is comprised of 25 to 30 percent idled fields and grasslands, 40 to 55
percent croplands, 10 to 15 percent brushlands, and 10 to 15 percent woodlands. The more intermixed these
components are, the better. These habitats must be available within one-quarter to one-half mile of each
other.
The following are options to consider when managing for bobwhite quail:
Protect any shrubby edges and waste areas that occur around farm areas. Fence livestock out to reduce
grazing and improve quail habitat.
During winter, food and cover should be next to each other, or at least no farther apart than a quartermile.
Provide nesting and foraging areas by planting a warm-season
grass mix of little bluestem, big bluestem, Indiangrass, and
wildflowers. Orchard grass, timothy, and redtop are also good
choices. Legumes and forbs (wildflowers) including sweet peas,
coreopsis, hairy vetch, red clover, goldenrod, and black-eyed
Susan mixed with the grasses help supply both insect and plant
foods for chicks as well as overhead cover. Do not plant in
areas that will be wet in the spring.
Nesting and roosting areas should be at least 40 yards wide to make nests more difficult to find by
ground searching predators.
Connect nesting areas with a corridor which will serve as an escape route. Quail will use fencerows and
ditch banks as travel lanes between nesting and feeding areas. Maintain them in tall grasses and shrubs
such as intermediate wheatgrass, switchgrass, sumac, crabapple, sassafras, and silky dogwood.
Corridors should be from 30 to 60 feet wide, and are most beneficial when 60 to 70 percent overhead
shrub cover is present.
Avoid the use of pesticides, if possible, because protein-rich insects are critical to the development of
chicks. In order to digest their food, each day quail need to eat at least seven percent of their body
weight in moisture. Green plants and insects provide moisture needs when water is not available.
Food plots should be one to two acres in size and at least forty yards wide. Some weed control may be
necessary to get the crop started but once plants are one to two feet high weed control will not be
necessary.
Roosting areas should be a minimum of 40 yards wide to be of greatest value.
Other Concerns
No matter how you manage your property for wildlife, your decisions will always have impacts. For
example, if you manage for grasslands to encourage pheasants, quail, and prairie songbirds, you will
discourage forest-loving wildlife such as thrushes, woodpeckers and squirrels. It
is important to consider surrounding habitat, and what species currently inhabit
the area when deciding on your goals.
You should also be aware that creating or enhancing habitats may invite
unwanted guests. For example, if you plant trees and shrubs, in the hopes of
attracting wild turkey and songbirds, you most likely will also lure deer, rabbits
and mice that can become a nuisance by eating the new plantings and even killing them. Free-roaming dogs
and cats may also be attracted to any habitat that suddenly has an abundance of quail or other wildlife.
The linked map is an example that demonstrates the many management
options discussed throughout this chapter. The option(s) you choose should
depend not only on your goals, but the location, condition, and present use of
your land.
Last Revised: December 19, 1999
You can download and print each chapter or section in its
original format.
The material is NOT copyrighted, however, please use the
following citation:
Sargent, M.S and Carter, K.S., ed. 1999. Managing Michigan Wildlife:
A Landowners Guide. Michigan United Conservation Clubs, East
Lansing, MI. 297pp.
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2015 Delivery Dates
Catalog Number
BWQS
Description
Straight Run
100
200
100 for 200 for
$191.00 $382.00
300
300 for
$573.00
400
400 for
$764.00
How Many
Availability Display below is for the next several hatches. This breed is available for future dates. You can pick
the date during the check out process. Green: available. Blue: limited availability. Red: not available.
Aug 10, 2015
Aug 17, 2015
Aug 24, 2015
Aug 31, 2015
Sep 7, 2015
Straight Run
Straight Run
Straight Run
Straight Run
Straight Run
We sell the Northern Bobwhite Quail. These wonderful little birds are great
flyers, delicious eating, excellent for training your hunting dog, and just fun to
raise. They mature in 16 weeks and dress between 7-9 oz. They will have started
laying eggs by 24 weeks and are prolific layers. Bobwhites can be put with other
types of quail after arrival. Quail are either shipped by Express Mail or Priority
Mail and come insured. Please open and inspect your shipment at the post office.
They will usually arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. Quail must be shipped in
warmer weather and are available from June through mid September. Quail are
very popular and a delight to raise.
We will begin shipping Bobwhite Quail on May 23.
*Please note the following restriction:
The following states can only receive Bobwhite Quail shipments from June
9-September 8: ID, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NY, OR, SD, VT, WA, WI,
& WY. Please book your order within these dates!
Additional images - click to enlarge.
Questions & Answers
Are the Northern Quail you sell old/large enough to release directly into the wild?
We offer day old Bobwhite Quail chicks. You would need to keep the chicks under a heat source for 4-6
weeks. We do not suggest releasing quail until 16 weeks of age.
Is it possible to get a mix assortment of just quail?
We do not sell the quail in assortments.
How old are bobwhite chicks at shipment?
They are hatched and shipped on the same day.
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These wonderful little birds are great fliers, delicious eating, excellent for training hunting dogs, and just fun to raise. They are the most common quail raised in captivity,
good nutrition and management are needed to raise them successfully. They mature in 16 weeks and produce 4-5 oz. of meat. They will start laying eggs at about 24 weeks of
age. Straight run only.
Quail are sold increments of 50 only.
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