Huh! Deer weren't the problem after all! UPDATED

I heard a teaser on the radio for tonight's news. Channel 11's Peggy Finnegan is doing a segment on Japanese barberry and its connection with deer ticks.

Doing some research, Japanese barberry is listed as an invasive species. It squeezes out native plants. It is so hearty that it can grow in full sun, shade, and even parking lots. It is also deer resistant. In this community, there is a fallacy that deer spread Lyme disease. As it turns out, Japanese barberry creates the perfect environment for ticks.

The prevalence of ticks infected with the Lyme disease–causing spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) is greater in areas with Japanese barberry than areas without.

I am commonly referred to as the crazy deer lady in Mt. Lebanon, but as I have been saying for years, mice and rats are the main culprits for spreading Lyme Disease. More bunk about ticks, deer, and Lyme Disease 

Japanese barberry and ticks

White-footed mice and other rodents are important vectors for immature ticks, and are the primary sources for a tick larva’s first blood meal. Mice thrive in stands of Japanese barberry; the dense, impenetrable stands protect them from predators and provide optimal nesting sites.

Maybe our commissioners are the real crazy deer people. Open your eyes, Guys. You have been dead wrong all along.