TICK ON COAST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 39, 15 January 1943, Page 4

TICK ON COAST

NO FURTHER SPREAD INCREASE AT NORTH END Cattle tick is being found 111 a slight.lv reduced area on the East Coast this summer, although at the northern end of tlfe Coast the number of ticks met with appears to be on the increase, states the Gisborne Herald. This is the observations of Mr F. R. Bould, inspector of stock, who states that during the past few years he has noted a restriction in the area in which the ticks have been found in the vicinity of Tolaga Bay, 01* at the southern extremity of its spread in the eastern, districts of the North Island. Fewer ticks have been reported in the Tolaga Bay region and, in fact, in most of the East Coast, with the exception of the top end, where increases have been reported in some areas. Found mainly on the coastal fringe, the tick has found shelter in the. long grasses and rushes •throughout the summer months and wintered at the bases of the grass and rush patches. In many instances the rushes have been cleared and the tall grass growth kept, in check and, robbed of much of its cover, the cattle tick has been greatly reduced in number in those parts. Because of the reduction in. number in the southern end, the ne.ces>T sity of dipping cattle driven from Tolaga Bay to districts further south has not been enforced during the past 12 months, and no tendency of the tick to spread further south has been noted, except for the usual small number of vagrant ticks which arc quickty dealt with when their presence is reported by the owner of the stock concerned. When the cattle, tick first made its appearance on the East Coast, fears were expressed in some quarters that the ticks Avould spread further south, but they have remained, confined to the Tolaga Bay boundary for so many years: that this has come to be regarded as. the furthest southern limit, and it corresponds fairly closely to the limit of its in the Northern Hem~> 'sphere.