Do You Treat Your Yard for Ticks?
Researchers from Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) need your help with a tick research project. We’re looking for Connecticut residents or nearby Westchester County, New York residents who would allow us to collect ticks from their property. If you are a Connecticut resident or a nearby Westchester County, New York resident either doing some form of tick control on your property in spring 2024 (such as treatment with cedar oil or tick-killing pesticides) or not doing any tick control, we need you.
The goal of the project is to determine how well tick control is helping reduce the number of ticks in the yard (Project ITCH--Is Tick Control Helping?). Participation in the study involves completing an on-line survey and giving permission for our research team to visit your yard 2-4 times in late May-June this year (2024). During our visits we will collect (and remove) ticks from tick habitat areas around your yard. All ticks will be identified and some of collected ticks will be tested for disease-causing germs. Participation will help inform and improve future tickborne disease prevention efforts in the northeast US.
The goal of the project is to determine how well tick control is helping reduce the number of ticks in the yard (Project ITCH--Is Tick Control Helping?). Participation in the study involves completing an on-line survey and giving permission for our research team to visit your yard 2-4 times in late May-June this year (2024). During our visits we will collect (and remove) ticks from tick habitat areas around your yard. All ticks will be identified and some of collected ticks will be tested for disease-causing germs. Participation will help inform and improve future tickborne disease prevention efforts in the northeast US.
Requirements of the study:
- Property is greater than 0.25 acres in size, and has an appropriate amount of tick habitat to sample.
- Property will be treated for ticks this spring (2024) OR for comparison property, will NOT be treated this spring.
- Homeowner gives permission to sample areas of the property 2-4 times in late May-June. Each sampling will likely take 20-30 minutes.
- You will not be charged for this service, but you will not be compensated either. Ticks will be taken off of your property.
If you want to find out if your tick control is helping and you meet the stated research criteria, please click this link to 1) complete the ITCH survey and 2) register interest in a free yard tick sampling as soon as possible.
If someone you know might be interested in finding out if their tick control is helping, we encourage you to share this website with them.
We are also looking to sample yards in Connecticut or in nearby Westchester County, New York that have not been treated for comparison. If your yard has not been treated for ticks, please fill out the survey as well to indicate your interest in participating. While we can’t sample everyone’s yard, the only way to be considered is to complete the survey. Thank you for your interest.
This collaborative research project has been approved by the The University of Massachusetts Institutional Review Board, Protocols 3969 and 4503, with a reliance agreement with Western Connecticut State University IRB. Please contact the UMASS Amherst Human Research Protection Office with any questions or concerns (413-545-3428).
If someone you know might be interested in finding out if their tick control is helping, we encourage you to share this website with them.
We are also looking to sample yards in Connecticut or in nearby Westchester County, New York that have not been treated for comparison. If your yard has not been treated for ticks, please fill out the survey as well to indicate your interest in participating. While we can’t sample everyone’s yard, the only way to be considered is to complete the survey. Thank you for your interest.
This collaborative research project has been approved by the The University of Massachusetts Institutional Review Board, Protocols 3969 and 4503, with a reliance agreement with Western Connecticut State University IRB. Please contact the UMASS Amherst Human Research Protection Office with any questions or concerns (413-545-3428).