Tick Color Preference Drag
Question/Hypothesis : What color would ticks be attracted to if any? White was believed to be the color that ticks would be attracted to because of its brightness and the belief that ticks would see the material passing by and cling to the sheet
Location : Large cleared forest under the power lines, on the edge of the Rider property. Environment is characterized by tall grasses about knee high and small shrubs.
Materials:
- 6 colored flannel sheets: red, yellow, blue, white, purple, grey
- 6 wooden beams
- 6 even lengths of string or rope
- 18 zip ties
- A drill of some sort (to put holes in the wooden beams)
- Staple Gun
Procedure :
- Each 3 foot by 3 foot colored sheet was stapled into one of 6 wooden beams (using the staple gun)
- 3 holes evenly spaced out across the wooden beam were drilled with 1 zip tie looped through each
- Evenly cut sections of rope where put through the three zip ties of each beam and tied
- At the location each sheet was dragged side by side one another in the same general area, but did not overlap, pass or cross over each others path
- Each sheet was dragged 50 feet from its starting point flipped over and pulled 50 feet back in the same direction on the opposite side to the starting point before being examined for ticks
- Upon examination and data recording the process was repeated again and the results were documented
Results:
Grey: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Purple:1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
White: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Red: 1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
Yellow: 1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
Blue: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Conclusion/Observations:
- All ticks were picked up on first dragging of 50 feet away from the starting point
- Purple, red and yellow were the only colors to pick up any ticks
- All ticks were adult (none where infants)
- Our hypothesis proved wrong as not a single tick was found on the white sheet
Possible Problems:
- The experiment needs to be repeated numerous times in various locations over the course of the tick season and if possible the year
- Participants holding and dragging the sheets could have been moving too fast for ticks to grab on, so the experiment would need to be timed and draggers made to walk at a set pace in a certain amount of time
Location : Large cleared forest under the power lines, on the edge of the Rider property. Environment is characterized by tall grasses about knee high and small shrubs.
Materials:
- 6 colored flannel sheets: red, yellow, blue, white, purple, grey
- 6 wooden beams
- 6 even lengths of string or rope
- 18 zip ties
- A drill of some sort (to put holes in the wooden beams)
- Staple Gun
Procedure :
- Each 3 foot by 3 foot colored sheet was stapled into one of 6 wooden beams (using the staple gun)
- 3 holes evenly spaced out across the wooden beam were drilled with 1 zip tie looped through each
- Evenly cut sections of rope where put through the three zip ties of each beam and tied
- At the location each sheet was dragged side by side one another in the same general area, but did not overlap, pass or cross over each others path
- Each sheet was dragged 50 feet from its starting point flipped over and pulled 50 feet back in the same direction on the opposite side to the starting point before being examined for ticks
- Upon examination and data recording the process was repeated again and the results were documented
Results:
Grey: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Purple:1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
White: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Red: 1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
Yellow: 1st time - 1 tick on 1 side (picked up walking 50 feet from starting point)
2nd time - no ticks either side
Blue: 1st time - no ticks either side
2nd time - no ticks either side
Conclusion/Observations:
- All ticks were picked up on first dragging of 50 feet away from the starting point
- Purple, red and yellow were the only colors to pick up any ticks
- All ticks were adult (none where infants)
- Our hypothesis proved wrong as not a single tick was found on the white sheet
Possible Problems:
- The experiment needs to be repeated numerous times in various locations over the course of the tick season and if possible the year
- Participants holding and dragging the sheets could have been moving too fast for ticks to grab on, so the experiment would need to be timed and draggers made to walk at a set pace in a certain amount of time