Thinking about spraying for ticks?

Then let us come survey your property this summer to count ticks, butterflies, and bees. We’re launching a new backyard tick research project in the Upper Valley (and beyond) of Vermont and New Hampshire, and we’re looking for upwards of 50 properties to join our study. If you have your property chemically sprayed (or fogged) for ticks with either traditional pesticides, organic essential oils, or other products then we will biologically survey your property before and immediately after the companies spray your yard.

[May 10th Update: Following my interview on Vermont Public, newspaper stories, listservs and Daybreak (thanks Rob) the response has been overwhelming–thank you all! At this point we’re mainly looking for additional properties where folks spray for ticks]. Here’s a flyer that you can post, or drop off at houses with the ‘just sprayed’ yard signs to help spread the word about this research project.

We’re interested in understanding if tick spraying has unintentional impacts on beneficial insect communities including bumble bees, dragonflies, and lady beetles. Our surveys will take less than one hour to complete, and we’ll come mid-day with plenty of advanced notice and coordination with you. As an Open Science organization, we’ll share all of our data with you, too, so that you can make informed decisions about future tick control measures on your property. Property owners with all types of yards are welcome to participate throughout the Upper Valley. If you’d like to be included in our study then please fill out this brief form about your property. If you’d like more information or would just like to stay informed about the project then please reach out to VCE ecologist Dr. Jason Hill () to learn more.