To the Editor:
Eradicating the deer population seems too simple a solution to the tick problem (Letters to the Editor, Oct. 14, Chris Murphy), and wiping out an entire species on the Island is worrisome. Has anyone thought about the fact that racoons and skunks have no predators and prey on ground-nesting birds that eat insects, including ticks? Or the fact that other animals —sheep, goats, horses, rabbits, mice, and dogs — are also hosts to ticks? Or why there were so few ticks this summer (because of lack of rain and high temperatures?) as compared with other years?
Martha MooreWest Tisbury
