Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) (IMAGE)
Caption
While many homeowners heed the advice to clear their lawns of fallen leaves in autumn to avoid creating tick-friendly habitat in high-use areas, a new study on tick abundance in leaf litter says raking or blowing leaves just out to the forest edge is not enough. In fact, dumping leaves where grass meets woods may inadvertently create an ideal habitat for blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis, adult female shown here).
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Flickr user Lennart Tange, CC BY 2.0
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maintain attribution; CC BY 2.0
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