Researchers from across New England have been surveying thousands of people and studying lawns in search of one thing: is tick control helping? 

The New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, or NEWVEC for short, has embarked on a multi-year project to answer that question which has long been on the minds of Vineyarders concerned with the rising number of ticks on the Island. 

Known as Project: ITCH (Is Tick Control Helping), the effort began in 2023 and for the first time this year included lawn surveys from the Island.

The goal of the research is to see if lawns treated with tick sprays, as well as other mitigation efforts, really do lead to lower densities of ticks, said Stephen Rich, a zoonotic disease expert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the executive director of NEWVEC. 

Ticks cover the eyes of a fawn in Aquinnah.

Tim Johnson

Ticks cover the eyes of a fawn in Aquinnah.

Tim Johnson

Companies have sprung up across the region promising effective treatments to get rid of ticks, and the NEWVEC team, which includes scientists from all six New England states, wanted to assess what does and doesn’t work. 

While the study is ongoing, Mr. Rich said preliminary evidence indicates that the synthetic sprays that contain chemicals such as permethrin do work and result in backyards with fewer ticks. So-called natural chemicals don’t seem to work as effectively.

It is unclear what the different treatments mean when it comes to the transmission of diseases such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain fever, as well as the newer alpha-gal syndrome, though, he warned. 

“We don’t know what [treating lawns] does to reduce the incidences of disease,” Mr. Rich said. “We have cautions that we put into these findings.” 

With the new data coming in from the Vineyard, courtesy of the Island’s tick biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds, Mr. Rich hopes to get better information about how lone star ticks stand up to lawn treatments. 

Lone stars have been on the rise throughout the Northeast, and the Vineyard has been on the frontline of their incursion into New England. The ticks, named for the white-spot found on the backs of adult females, can cause people to become allergic to red meat and other mammalian products ranging from gelatins to dairy. 

The allergy, known as alpha-gal syndrome, has skyrocketed on the Island in a matter of years, rising from just two positive cases in 2020 to 445 individual positives tests at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in 2024. 

Ticks absorb permethrin and the lawn treatment chemicals through their legs. For deer ticks, which are a common spreader of Lyme, it is usually a quick death, but it’s not clear what happens to lone stars, according to Mr. Rich.

“We’re not sure if they are destined to die,” he said. “We’re trying to see if it works on all kinds [of ticks].”

The research comes as Islanders become increasingly frustrated with the tick problem here. Where once trips into the woods were the only cause for concern, the rise of lone star ticks mean even sojourns to the mailbox can result with an embedded arachnid and a disease to boot.

Management of the tick population is tough because there is no single, effective way to eradicate the pests. Mr. Roden-Reynolds said he is often approached by people looking for ways to wipe ticks off the map, and he has to be the bearer of bad news. 

Patrick Roden-Reynolds says reducing the number of deer is one way to help.

Ray Ewing

Patrick Roden-Reynolds says reducing the number of deer is one way to help.

Ray Ewing

“There’s no one thing to reduce tick numbers,” he said. 

Several methods have been tried before, including bait boxes and tick tubes, a pair of methods that attract mice, and other rodents that carry Lyme and other diseases. When the critters go into the boxes or tubes, they are treated with an acaricide, which then kills ticks that later feed on the animals. 

But they have not proved very effective in the long run, said Dick Johnson, the former head of the Vineyard tick prevention program. 

Both he and Mr. Roden-Reynolds see only one real method available to cut down on ticks: reducing their food supply. 

The Vineyard has some of the highest densities of deer in Massachusetts and subsequently the highest rate of Lyme in the country. The mammals are one of the prime food sources for deer ticks, lone stars and other species.

“I think our only chance and best chance is we have to do something about the deer,” Mr. Johnson said. “As long as we have this number, there’s nothing we can do.” 

Part of the reason why the Vineyard has become such a haven for deer is its mix of habitat. Parts of the Island are still rural, creating the perfect cocktail of forests, developed lots and the “edge” habitats that deer love. 

Mr. Roden-Reynolds, a hunter himself, said extending the hunting season could help cut down on the number of ticks, and he also advocated for more prescribed burns. 

“It’s a good reset button,” he said. “It should burn or kill a lot of ticks in the area.” 

Municipalities across the country have tried different methods to try and deal with ticks, but no real success story has been found as of yet. Mr. Roden-Reynolds said he’s heard of sharpshooters being brought in to thin out deer herds, though that is a politically fraught and expensive proposition. 

Patrick Roden-Reynolds inspects a deer for ticks.

Ray Ewing

Patrick Roden-Reynolds inspects a deer for ticks.

Ray Ewing

Spraying permethrin on a larger scale is a common suggestion from the public, he said. Though spraying can work on individual properties, Mr. Roden-Reynolds, Mr. Rich and Mr. Johnson all said that wide-scale efforts are impractical, cost prohibitive and possibly destructive to a host of other species.

“I think people think it’s the easy option,” Mr. Roden-Reynolds said. “It’s a little more nuanced than that. Even properties that are sprayed, I can find ticks around.” 

Others have tried to introduce fowl that feed on ticks, but the evidence has been inconclusive given that these birds are also a potential meal for ticks. For example, in 2017, the town of North Hempstead on New York’s Long Island raised and released northern bobwhite quail into its parks as a non-toxic method of controlling ticks. Ticks have continued to overrun the region, though, far outpacing what the quails could ever hope to eat. 

“They do eat ticks, but since the tick population has increased tremendously over the years, they will not impact the number of ticks or be considered a major variable in reducing ticks,” the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, a nonprofit which aided with the reintroduction program, told the Gazette. “They do play a part in a natural ecosystem, so it is important that they are present.” 

Mr. Johnson was interested in bringing back four-posters — a mechanism that attracts deer with bait and then applies acaricides (a pesticide designed to kill ticks) via paint rollers as they feed.

Four-posters were tested on Chappaquiddick years ago, but haven’t been implemented much on the rest of the Vineyard. While the method has proven effective in small areas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found they were not suitable on a broader-scale. 

Dick Johnson was interested in giving some methods of mitigation a second look.

Ray Ewing

Dick Johnson was interested in giving some methods of mitigation a second look.

Ray Ewing

Mr. Johnson believes they deserve a second look, however, because of the rise in lone stars. 

While scientists continue to seek solutions to the tick problem, perhaps the biggest challenge, researchers said, is getting people into a new mindset. Personal protection measures, such as wearing permethrin-treated clothing, wearing long pants when outside and doing regular tick checks, are some of the most effective things that people can do to prevent tick bites and the spread of disease, they said. 

“That’s something you can do today and it will protect you tomorrow,” Mr. Roden-Reynolds said. 

Mr. Rich hoped people would think of the current situation in the same light as when society learned of the cancer risk from sun exposure. Where sunscreen was pretty much unheard decades ago, it is now commonplace for people to apply SPF when they head outside.

“We don’t want the sun to go away. That’s just something we have to do to go outside,” he said. “I think that if people could get in that mindset of a management problem along those lines, that would be a big win.”