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Information on Ticks That Bite Gray Wolves

The gray wolf, known scientifically as Canis lupus, once roamed North America from Mexico to Alaska. Its numbers were drastically reduced in the early and middle part of the 20th century, but since it was put under protection under the Endangered Species Act, its numbers have been on the rise. While wolves have enjoyed protection from human hunters, they are not protected from parasitism. Wolves, like other mammals, are prone to parasitism by ticks. Ticks negatively affect the health of gray wolves and can negatively effect the health of humans who live near areas where the wolves, and ticks, are present.

The Deer Tick
- The species of tick that is most commonly associated with gray wolves is Ixodes scapularis. There are several common names associated with Ixodes scapularis, including deer tick and black legged tick. Ixodes scapularis is found from the Midwest to the East Coast of the United States. These ticks parasitize wolves as well as wolf prey, such as white-tailed deer, small mammals and rodents, enabling them to make the leap from the prey to the predator with ease.
Life Cycle
- The black legged deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, lives for about two years and goes through four life cycles. It starts life as an egg, hatched on the forest floor. It then goes through a larval, worm-like form. Next, the tick turns into a nymph, and finally morphs into its fully formed adult form. During its life, it lives exclusively on animal blood, which it consumes exactly three times during its life -- once to molt into a nymph from a larva, once to molt from nymph to adult and finally, once to lay eggs as an adult.
Diseases
- One of the most pressing issues regarding Ixodes scapularis is the fact that it is a known carrier of Lyme disease. Lyme disease comes from bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, which it contracts during its second or third life stage (larva or nymph). When the infected tick then latches on to prey on an animal, be it a wolf, deer or human, it can pass on the bacteria to the host, causing Lyme disease. Symptoms of Lyme disease start with a bulls-eye-shaped rash that spreads out from where the tick was attached. If left untreated, the disease can cause health problems such as facial paralysis, heart palpitations, arthritis, headaches and neurological disorders. In rare cases, Lyme Disease can cause death.
Effect on Wolf Prey
- Ticks that do not necessarily bother wolves do heavily impact the prey that wolves depend on to live. Ixodes scapularis and other ticks feast on moose, deer, and other prey that wolves hunt. In some places, ticks have heavily impacted herds of moose, leading to death, smaller herds, and eventually, starving wolves. This occurred in 2007 on Isle Royale, an island in Lake Superior. Since 2002, the island's moose herd had been in decline, and numbers were so low in 2007 that wolves were starving over the winter, having no prey to hunt. The increase in tick numbers had been attributed at least in part to warmer weather conditions.

Animals & Science