Local Lyme expert says 50 deer per acre is too many for SM Park

This is Kathy White's letter to Chuck Kurtz at Sun Publications today (June 11)
Chuck--
I am concerned that the goal of reducing the deer to 50 per square mile in Shawnee Mission Park is not enough. There are about 2 square miles in the park, which would leave 100 deer there. This will probably not affect the incidence of people contracting Lyme disease in the park, and it will probably not do much to slow the tremendous annual increase in the number of ticks in the park. There will be plenty of deer left on which the ticks can feed and mate. The tick population will continue to multiply greatly. Each deer can be host to several hundred ticks each year, and each female tick can drop off a deer and lay over 2,500 eggs. This means that each deer can enable the birth of several million new ticks each year. If there are fewer deer, each remaining deer will likely carry more ticks. The deer population would have to be reduced much more to make it difficult for ticks to locate a deer upon which to mate.
I am sad that deer have to be killed. However, I care even more about the people who have Lyme disease. I have met children and teenagers in this area who have been too weak to sit up very long and who have missed several years of school because of chronic Lyme disease. Some parts of our country have been able to get rid of ticks and Lyme disease by getting rid of the deer.
I hope that the venison given to the poor will be cooked thoroughly. Warning labels should be considered. Although there is no research showing that undercooked deer meat can give people tickborne diseases, it is wise to be cautious.
I think all the county parks and woodland areas should be evaluated to determine the density of the deer and tick populations. In areas where there are more than 10 or 20 deer per square mile, and in areas where residents are complaining about too many deer, the county should consider reducing the deer population. Those beautiful, graceful deer are the nation's most dangerous animal, killing and seriously injuring many more people in deer-car collisions than attacks by bears, alligators, snakes, and sharks combined. By being the primary host to adult deer ticks and lone star ticks, deer are also facilitating the increase in tickborne diseases which are disabling and even killing people.
Ticks in this area can carry at least 9 diseases: Lyme disease, STARI (identical to Lyme disease), ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis (similar to ehrlichiosis), Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesia (similar to malaria), bartonella, mycoplasma, and tularemia. Many ticks carry several diseases. Some are not infected. Some people become infected without getting sick. Lyme disease can lie dormant and emerge months or years later.
People are contracting Lyme disease throughout the Greater Kansas City area, primarily in woodsy areas where there are deer. People can get the disease from infected ticks at area parks, lakes, camps, farms, and even in their yards. People have contracted the disease in their yards in many Johnson County cities.
The CDC advises people to wear repellent containing DEET when they are outdoors. However, people can still get ticks on themselves when using DEET. The CDC recommends spraying Permanone (permethrin) on clothing. Clothes should be sprayed outside, the day before an outing, and allowed to dry before wearing. Permethrin is an insecticide that kills ticks that crawl across it. It should never be sprayed on skin.
People should remove an attached tick by sliding something under it, such as a tick remover sold by the Lyme Association of Greater Kansas City. Now that many ticks carry disease germs in their guts, the old methods of using a hot match, applying chemicals, or using fingers to remove a tick are no longer safe. These methods cause germs to be injected into the bite site. The CDC recommends fine-pointed tweezers, but this can squeeze the tick's gut and inject germs. People can contact the Lyme Association at 913-438-5963 or Lymefight @aol.com, or see www. Lymefight.info for more information.

Kathy White
Overland Park
kswhite@everestkc.net
913-814-0299