Galloway tick spike defies usual culprits, but checks beat avoidance
A Galloway farmer and grouse moor manager is seeing tick numbers creep up with no clear culprit, and a father-son trip to watch rutting stags turned up two tick bites that bring the issue close to home for anyone who spends time on rough ground.
Snapshot
Patrick Laurie, writing in ShootingUK, describes rising tick counts on his Galloway hill despite the absence of sheep, hares or rabbits — the hosts usually blamed for spreading them. He also pushes back on the idea that bracken automatically means ticks, and argues that the right response to a growing tick problem is careful checking, not avoiding the outdoors.
Key points
- No obvious host: Laurie finds few ticks on roe deer, foxes or stoats hung in the larder, yet dog checks after a grouse day turned up several, with no sheep, hares or rabbits on the ground to explain the increase.
- Bracken isn't a guarantee: a neighbor warned that cutting bracken for cattle bedding invites ticks, but Laurie reports a month of use with no ticks found, while acknowledging bracken and ticks often do go together.
- Nymphs on a six-year-old: after a stag-watching trek near Newton Stewart, Laurie pulled two tiny tick nymphs off his son's neck and cheek, visible mainly as small red marks.
- Teachers' reaction: Laurie notes that his son's teachers treated the ticks as alarming disease vectors, a response he says misses that ticks are simply a fact of life in rough country like Galloway.
- His takeaway: Laurie argues Lyme disease is a serious risk worth respecting, but the fix is thorough post-outing checks on people and dogs, not staying indoors.
Quick take
For hunters and landowners managing game ground, this diary is a reminder that tick pressure can build quietly even without the usual suspect hosts, and that habitat guesses like bracken don't always hold up. The practical move stays the same: check yourself, your kids and your dogs every time you come off the hill.
Read the full story: shootinguk.co.uk