Would take the entire State. They are not only in the wooded areas but also people's yards. Deer walked thru mine last summer and the top of her back, from neck to hips was dark with swollen ticks. First time I had ever seen it that bad.
If the ticks are not infected they would be nothing but an inconvenience. They pick up the disease from mice, chipmunks and perhaps a couple other small mammals. Deer are immune but carry them around and drop them off in their travels. One Deer can drop of thousands of ticks in the course of a season of wandering.
An aside to Smoke: You think Deer perhaps also wonder? You know acorn, apple, corn, yard, move, bed, water? Hmmmm
So, burn off the land, the Deer run off to unburned land and take the infected ticks with them and the cycle goes on. Deer return to burned land, take the ticks with them and you are back to where you started.
Although I would like to see more than a little controlled burning in Pa. About the best all around habitat improvement one can do.
