Animal Activists Argue Hunting Is Not An Option to Combat Lyme
Disease The number of Lyme disease infections reported is often
linked directly to the local density of wild deer. Wild deer
carry the ixodes scapularis blackegged-tick that is the primary
vector for Lyme disease; so the number of infected ticks people
risk exposure to increases with the number of deer. Many
townships in the northeastern United States have dramatically
expanded hunting rights in order to lower the population of wild
deer. In some townships and counties, the deer-hunting season
has been in expanded. In other parts of the country, unorthodox
methods of deer hunting – like using a bow and arrow instead of
a rifle – have been embraced instead. But anti hunting activists
argue that expanding hunting rights will not combat Lyme
disease; and doing so is little more than animal cruelty. “The
argument that sport hunting will solve suburban deer problems is
flawed,” argues Laura Simon, field director of the Connecticut
Urban Wildlife Progra