Warm Weekends of November

The warmer weekends in November are always such a treat. The sun is shining, the insects are out about (heck yeah!), and I was able to get out to a nearby park to do some dragging for ticks. That’s right. Dragging for ticks. The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) to be precise. This little tick is actually what I’m spending my Master’s thesis working on. 

Instead of going to Chicago to visit my field sites, I opted for a more relaxing weekend by dragging at a nearby park that badly needed some exploration (though of course I forgot my camera). The day was perfect and the drive to Kickapoo State Park could not have been better. The winding roads and colorful trees were beautifully peaceful.

I really only dragged at one spot, but it was a spot to remember. To start things off, I went into the woods next to a playground where several small children were playing. Needless to say, they all stopped and stared at me, slightly fearful I’m sure of the strange man walking into the woods wearing a white tick suit and carrying a drag cloth.

The horror!!

Undaunted, I marched into the woods, unrolled the cloth, and started dragging for ticks. It was not long though, before I got distracted and started hunting around for insects. I used some fallen branched to beat trees (no luck) and whenever I checked my drag cloth, I would look at the other creatures that got picked up as well.

Persistence finally paid off though and I got some ticks! I came away with five I. scapularis: one male and four females, though one I will need to look at under a microscope to confirm. But my luck did not stop there. Oh no, I came across some deer scat as well. I took a small twig and poked around a bit, finally coming across what I was looking for. 

Recently, I’ve developed a fascination in dung beetles (though not at the same level as other beetle families), so I was hoping to maybe find some under the deer scat, despite it being late in the season. And my luck held out. I found a small species that was undoubtedly a dung beetle. Overjoyed, I poked around a bit more and captured two others as well.  If I am lucky, I will get them identified to genus this next week, so I’ll update this post if I figure them out.

Overall, it was a successful day and a beautiful weekend. I am hoping to get a few more days like that before the snows come and central Illinois gets covered with a blanket of white.