Compared to the past few years, Nick Benton has noticed far more creepy, bloodsucking bugs trying to crawl up his legs while running trails near Brock University this spring.

“I’ve noticed a lot of blacklegged tick nymphs on me when I get back and do tick checks. It seems to be pretty rough this year,” said Benton, who is working on his PhD in biological sciences at the university.

Concerned , he said he contacted his supervisor, biological sciences professor Fiona Hunter, and suggested conducting a study of tick populations.

“She thought it was a great idea,” Benton said. “We wanted to do something so we could inform the community about how many ticks are around, what species and if there are any pathogens in these ticks as well, just so people are aware.”

While Niagara Region Public

See Full Page