samedi 22 août 2015

Oppossums have a use

http://ift.tt/1Js1bQu

Quote:

Opossums, like many other small and medium-sized mammals, are hosts for ticks looking for a blood meal. But opossums are remarkably efficient at eliminating foraging ticks, according to a researcher.

"In a way, opossums are the unsung heroes in the Lyme Disease epidemic," says Rick Ostfeld, author of a book on Lyme disease ecology and a senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

"Because many ticks try to feed on opossums and few of them survive the experience. Opossums are extraordinarily good groomers, it turns out. We never would have thought that ahead of time – but they kill the vast majority – more than 95 percent of the ticks that try to feed on them.


via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1Js1dHZ

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