Wild Animal News

Ticks, small eight-legged arachnids related to spiders and scorpions, are no friends to humans and animals, wild and domestic. But now, gene editing holds out the possibility of better control of the eight-legged pests For starters it may help to virtually eliminate Lyme Disease.

The tiny blood suckers attach themselves to hosts and can spread many diseases. In the US alone the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists a whopping 14 tick borne diseases that can spread to humans and animals. Beyond well known diseases such as Tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease ticks spread such lesser known diseases as anaplasmosis and babesosis. Anaplasmosis is a flu-like condition that rarely kills victims. Babesosis is a blood-destroying conditions that can also prove fatal. Far more common are tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease. Tick borne illnesses can be treated, usually with antibiotics, but all five listed can be fatal.

But now researchers at the University of Nevada, in a paper published in the journal iScience, may have found a way to relieve the destruction. Up until now conventional wisdom was that ticks could not have their genes altered. Their eggs are covered in a thick protective wax. The scientists found a way to remove the wax without rendering the eggs unviable. They also found a way to directly edit tick DNA. The DNA can be edited to prevent the ticks from carrying the bacteria that causes the disease. The results were successful one out of seven times, proving the technique has a long way to go. But the fact that there are two methods points to the possibility of releasing gene-edited ticks into the wild and thus cutting down the incidence of tick borne diseases.

The method is a cousin of earlier successful attempts to eradicate screw worm flies, which we reported on recently. Australia is having trouble with a number of invasive species and is considering biological and genetic warfare. Screw worms were eradicated in the United States because scientists developed a way to sterilize males with radiation and release them by the billions, eliminating the population.

Ticks are not going to go without a fight, however. A recent news report spotlighted a tick that lived for 27 years and didn’t eat for eight years. Females in the study were able to store viable sperm for four years after the last male in the group died. The hardy beasts surviving descendants are under study. Meanwhile, nature has its own answer to the tick problem: Predators: A suprisingly long list of animals feasts on ticks, including some spiders, many other insects, ducks, crows and other birds and mammals including mice, rats and squirrels.

Our usual fare has been somewhat grim with conflict between humans and monkeys and tigers and wolves predominating so today we talk about a more pleasant mystery – how a bunny appears to have infiltrated one of the most secure buildings in the world – the Pentagon.

Observers have spotted a rabbit where none is supposed to be – the 5.1 acre inner courtyard of the Pentagon and it is unclear how it got there.

If its name is Bugs then it might have become lost on its way to Pismo Beach making a wrong turn at Albuquerque, as in the Warner Bros. cartoons. In keeping with the mystery the Pentagon will not officially acknowledge the plucky lagomorph exists.

There is some thought it was accidentally airlifted. The theory is that it was actually captured by a hawk and dropped before it could be fed to its young. But the rabbit doesn’t appear injured in the videos so far seen, and hawks have sharp- claws. There are 25 or so species of hawks in the United States and each state has several species so the identity of the purported airlifter is unknown and local hawks are not commenting. There are 7 types of hawks in Virginia and the Rough-legged and the Red-tailed are the biggest, and thus likeliest suspects.

The animal in question may have found a safe haven to live out its life, if it can avoid the hawk that allegedly dropped it. The rabbit is probably an eastern cottontail, which tops out at about 3 pounds, a perfect size meal for a long list of predators. Even Wile E. Coyote should find it very difficult to find his way into the Pentagon. The Pentagon replaced the old War Department and was completed in 1943 during World War Two. Named for its distinctive shape it contains about 3.7 million feet of office space. It is about 71 feet tall and is considered the largest one-story office building in the world.

The list of predators who should be stymied includes foxes, bobcats, domestic dogs and cats and several unexpected predators such as crows and skunks. Coyotes and weasels are also on the list. Human hunters take a share too. Hawks and owls are threats even in the Pentagon courtyard. Estimates are that 80 percent of adult rabbits are killed each year. The only counter the rabbits have is fecundity. doe (female) rabbits can produce up to 7 litters of up to six babies a year. They fall pregnant almost immediately after giving birth. Perhaps half of the babies survive the three weeks to self-sufficiency. Here’s hoping at least one rabbit will beat the odds.