I saw a photograph of workers dragging large pieces of cloth — picture a ragged shirt or coat — through stands of Japanese barberry. The workers were collecting deer ticks for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Researchers have found high concentrations of deer ticks in stands of Japanese barberry.
Ironically, deer don’t eat Japanese barberry, deterred by the plant’s sharp spines. The plant is a recent arrival in North America. Gardeners planted it as an ornamental. It has been thriving in the wild for at least 40 years.
Why are deer ticks attracted to Japanese barberry?
It roots from its stems, forming thickets, which shelter mice from predators. The theory is that the ticks follow the mice.
I wish I could interest scientists in the question of what other plants — particularly those in the Georgia Piedmont — attract ticks.
I think ticks prefer blackberry canes. My hypothesis is that they have evolved a preference for a plant that berry-eating animals, including me, will eventually blunder through, looking for a snack.
Of course, it could be observer’s bias. It could be that I see more ticks on blackberry canes because I love blackberries. But I’ve gotten interested in the question and have been looking for ticks on other plants on the forest floor. I think the question is worth testing.
Perhaps the research has been done, and I just can’t find it in the literature. Were I in charge of a couple of graduate students, you know what we’d be doing.
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