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Your Pet Isn't The Only One Wearing a Collar

A mouse wearing a GPS collar
White-footed mouse with VHF radio tracking collar. Photo courtesy of Virginie Millien, McGill University.

In a few county parks around the state of Maryland you could come across an unusual sight: white-footed ice scurrying around wearing tiny radio tracking collars. Why? The mice are part of a study to improve control of ticks that spread Lyme disease.

You've probably heard that ticks often catch rides on deer, which is how they end up in your neighborhood and backyard. . Some of those ticks carry the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, that causes Lyme disease which the ticks pick up from feeding on infected white-footed mice.

Lyme disease can cause serious illness in people and pets, so the mouse collaring research is important for learning how to reduce the presence of ticks in your area.

To learn more read "Collaring the Mice that Carry Lyme Disease-Causing Ticks".