A windy cold day like today will certainly keep the ticks away.
Ticks are tiny arachnids that are commonly found outside, especially as regions warm up to springtime weather. Michigan is home to five tick species, one of which can carry Lyme disease. The two types of ticks most commonly found in the Keweenaw Peninsula are the black-legged ticks and dog ticks.
Throughout the spring and summer Michigan Tech plans to continue a project that was started last year that asks for help from outdoor enthusiasts. The Tick crowdsourcing Project, started by the Michigan Tech Genomic Sequencing Lab, was started to study the spread of tick-borne illnesses in the Copper Country.
Throughout the outdoor recreation and tick season crossover, those who find a tick can drop off the sample to one of two drop boxes, at the U.J. Noblet Forestry Building’s main entrance and on the first floor of the Great Lakes Research Center.
Those interested in helping the university with the study can find more details about sample collection and the project below.