Month: October 2023

On my daily (i.e., theoretically daily) walk through the neighborhood and surrounding woods I came across the URI tick people posting signs, dragging for ticks, and filming a little promo spot. The on-campus Tick Encounter group (https://web.uri.edu/tickencounter/) is a long-running research and public service entity that “promotes tick-bite protection and tickborne disease prevention by engaging, educating, and empowering people to take action.”

There are plenty of ticks in R.I. And all over New England. Though in some 60-plus years in N.E. and Maryland, I’ve never had an Ixodes tick bite or any common tick-borne infection. A few years ago, when my GP was filling out a list of annual diagnostic tests, I had her run a Lyme serology just for kicks. It came back negative—no evidence of a past or present Lyme infection. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be mindful of these little blood-suckers and the pathogens they sometimes carry.