cooper-conservation's Identifications

Ticks under the ear.

https://yubariver.org/posts/ticks-lizards-and-lyme-disease/

While most people do not think much of the lizard they see everyday on their porch, western fence lizards play an extremely important part in disease control. As nymphs, western blacklegged ticks preferentially seek out western fence lizards to feed on. With most host species, a tick containing Lyme disease causing bacteria would infect the host within 24 hours of biting them. However, in 1998, scientists found that western fence lizard blood contains a protein that kills the B. burgdorferi bacteria. Not only does the lizard not become infected with the bacteria, but the tick is also cured of the infection!

This superpower is thought to help decrease the incidence of Lyme disease across California. Despite this, recent studies have shown that removing western fence lizards from the environment dramatically reduces the amount of ticks carrying Lyme disease. Leading researcher Dr. Andrea Swei hypothesizes that the reduction of the young ticks’ favorite hosts means that not enough are surviving to adulthood to continue the cycle of Lyme disease.