By Luke Ranker
Ted Roeder spent the better part of his life outdoors. He practically lived outside while playing as a boy, four years as a park ranger in Yellowstone National Park, several years as a park ranger at Denali National Park in Alaska, and countless hours doing field work for a master’s degree and later a doctoral degree in botany. In all those years roaming the woods, Roeder was never concerned with a disease-carrying pest that’s becoming more common — ticks.
...The number of ticks carrying Lyme disease and anaplasmosis could be increasing. Diane Caporale, professor of molecular biology and genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, has been collecting and testing ticks around Lake Joanis in Schmeeckle Reserve since 2000. In that time, the number of ticks found to carry Lyme disease has jumped from 4 percent in 2000 to 36 percent last year. Caporale has seen similar results from testing ticks found on her own land near Stockton.
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