A recent article about ticks on the rise in Vermont ignores a critical component in deer tick biology (“Tick totals keep rising”; July 12).
Adult ticks like to breed on tall animals … and will climb up tall vegetation like grasses to hitch a ride on tall animals like deer. There the ticks will find a mate and a have a final meal of blood from the deer. Then the adult female will drop to the ground to overwinter and lay her eggs, which hatch in early spring. Increases in Lyme disease are tied to increases in deer populations.
Hunters in areas with a high tick population will find lots of ticks on their harvested deer. Some of these adult ticks may be infested with the Lyme disease bacteria which that insect probably got from feeding on deer mice as a juvenile tick.
This rise in Lyme disease suggests that the affected communities may also have an overabundance of deer.
Research from Connecticut, where Lyme disease was first discovered, found that when deer populations declined, the incidence of Lyme disease also declined. Removal of deer from islands, revealed that Lyme disease there disappeared as well.
For more information go to hanovernh.org/387/Deer-Ticks-Lyme-Disease-Related-Factors
Barbara McIlroy
Etna
NH’s wrong turn on renewables
Several of the articles in this Weekend’s Valley News connected the dots on the coming damage that will result from the state budget recently signed by Governor Ayotte. The article “State Budget Guts Renewable Energy Fund” noted that more than $15 million in the Fund would be redirected to the general fund. Other articles in the same edition demonstrated what will happen to us next. On the front page we saw “Tick Totals Keep Rising”. On the second page we saw “Flash Floods Follow Thursday Storms.” The local storms referenced pale in comparison to the four 1,000- year floods that have occurred in the past two weeks. Many more are on the way. Gutting renewable energy will accelerate the climate crisis. The NH reduction in renewable energy is microscopic when compared to the climate damage that will be triggered by the federal budget bill recently passed by a feckless Congress. It doesn’t have to be this way. The statewide Climate Hope Affiliate based in Concord is establishing connections with our congresspeople, who have outstanding records in support of renewable energy. But they need to hear from us that there is more that they can do to prevent the coming climate disaster. We don’t have to feel powerless in the face of current events. Contact Rep. Goodlander and tell her that we are behind her efforts to reverse the insanity of the budget bill and its impact on climate change
Robert Grabill
Hanover
The big bill’s narrow margin
It took a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance for Donald Trump’s disastrous “Big Beautiful Bill” to pass in the Senate. Before his vote, Vance dismissed the catastrophic and intentional effects of the legislation — like eliminating health coverage for 17 million Americans and slashing Medicaid by over $1 trillion — as “minutiae” and “immaterial.”
Republicans passed this travesty to provide yet more tax breaks for their billionaire and big business puppet masters. The bill constitutes the biggest upward transfer of wealth in America’s history and will hurt Americans: It cuts the government’s essential Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by over $200 billion. That’s on top of massive cuts in food assistance since Trump returned to power. It gives Big Oil $18 billion in new handouts while gutting wind and solar programs with additional taxes. It provides $150 billion to supercharge militant xenophobia, by enabling ICE and similar agencies to hire thousands of new personnel.
Sadly, even House members who had objected to various provisions of the bill were cowed by Trump and quickly passed it. We do not have to accept this. Speak up, protest, stay informed, and vote as if your life depends on it. We are seeing what one vote can do. But we can vote in the hundreds of millions. And we will.
Catherine Kidder
West Newbury, Vt.
An introduction to the outdoors
There are a few spots left for the 30th Annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Weekend to be held Sept 5-7 at the Geneva Point Center on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Sponsored via a partnership of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, this weekend is a hands-on retreat designed for women of all backgrounds to explore the outdoors through workshops in archery, kayaking, fishing, outdoor survival and more. Come and enjoy a three-day, two-night weekend with seven meals, lodging and four workshops in varied outdoor experiences while sharing new experiences with other women. More details of workshop opportunities and registration information are available on the website: nhbow.com
Sharon Guaraldi
Canaan