Hi Tom, I was catching up on your journals and had a couple of questions for you :) 1. Why are the researchers interested in ticks? 2. I read your Q/A from Betsy about rabies in foxes, but I was wondering are they people friendly or do they keep their distance.Do they pose any threat to humans? 3. Why are researchers especially interested in the Kittywakes and Murres? Great pictures -keep them coming ! Lollie

Thomas Harten

Hi Lollie,
Great to hear from you! I hope you are having a wonderful summer.
I was very curious about that as well and my understanding is that they
are going to a tick taxonomist to look at the different organisms that
will parasitize seabirds. Someone also mentioned a Lyme's disease
component, but I'm not sure of that.
The foxes in town seem less afraid of humans than the ones out in the
field. I imagine because there is more food availability to the town
foxes. They don't really approach too closely to humans and I'm not
aware of them being any kind of threat. They just seem to trot around,
going about their business.
The kittiwakes and murres were selected for the research for a couple of
reasons. The researchers are interested in how ecological change will
impact these birds. Since the kittiwakes and murres use different
strategies to forage for food, these were part of the reason the birds
were selected. The kittiwakes feed near the surface, plunging in a half
meter or less into the water to snatch up a fish or other food item.
The murres are deep divers, essentially "flying" underwater to depths of
100 meters or more to find their food.
By equipping the birds with GPS units and geolocator tags, we can see
where they go to feed (GPS) and where they will spend the winter months
(geolocator).
In addition to their feeding strategies, the birds were selected because
they are still reasonably abundant in the Pribilofs, and the nests can
be accessed as needed (with some effort).
If I find out any new information about the tick study, Ii'll pass it along.
Bye for now!