Is it only deer that help spread the Lyme disease via ticks?
No. This used to be the most cited reason for the spread of Lyme and this was perhaps due to many of the original cases having come from people who worked in the deer or forestry industry. Small mammals, particularly mice, have always been considered the principal hosts of Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease). Squirrels, voles, and other small mammals as well as deer play their part in transmission of B. burgdorferi. More recently the role of pheasants and other avian hosts has been the subject of research findings. In England, approximately 20 million farm-reared pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) are released into the woodlands each year to supplement natural populations for recreational shooting. As a result, pheasants constitute the vast majority of the land-based avifauna, especially in woodlands of southern England, and are present alongside high densities of mammals, such as the woodmice, voles, squirrels, and deer mentioned earlier. All of these hosts
