The Deer Task Force is charged with advising the Town Council on ways to dramatically reduce or eliminate deer on Block Island in order to reduce the incidence of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne disease.At the meeting on September 7, Chair Sue Hagedorn presented the DTF with a report she received from researchers Dr. Danielle Tufts of the University ofPittsburgh and Dr. Maria Diuk-Wasser of Columbia University, who have been studying Block Island’s ticks for ten years. The researchers have specifically been studying two tick species native to North America, the lone star tick and the rabbit tick. Both ticks are expanding their ranges in the United States and have come to Block Island, though both species are currently much less common on the island than the deer tick, also known as the blacklegged tick. The blacklegged tick is the usual suspect in cases of Lyme disease on the island.The lone star tick has been steadily increasing in numbers, however, on Block Island and elsewhere. Researchers in New Jersey report the lone star tick is becoming the dominant tick in their area, surpassing the number of blacklegged ticks within a few years. On Block Island, the researchers recovered
