The TIMES of Middle Country
Serving CentereaCh
Volume 11, No. 10
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Selden
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northern lake grove
June 25, 2015
$1.00
‘Power and Strength in Art’
Also: ‘Christian White: Fifty Years of Art’ exhibit at Gallery North; ‘Mary Poppins’ flies into CMPAC
PAGe B1
Baby’s best friend
Top of their class
Meet the leading students in Middle Country
PAGeS A2 & A3
Photo by Bob Savage
The memorial park on Port Jefferson Harbor was fluffier than usual on Saturday, during Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue and Adoption Center’s annual Hounds on the Sound event. Above, Patrick Mango, a 7-month-old Selden resident, who is visiting with Persy.
A tricky tick situation on LI
Another tick virus appears in Connecticut, as population increases after snowy winter By giSelle Barkley
As Long Islanders are warned about an uptick in Lyme disease, another tickborne virus has emerged in Connecticut across the Long Island Sound. Nearly 12 years ago, Eric Powers, a biologist and wildlife educator, noticed an increase
in the tick population at Caleb Smith park in Smithtown, after pulling nearly 40 ticks off a group of his students. Powers conducted a survey of the park and discovered the population of tick predators had decreased, as feral and outdoor house cats either chased them off or killed them. “It’s becoming a huge na-
Stock photo
A deer tick, above, which can carry one strain of the Powassan virus, is a common type of tick on long island, along with the lone star and American dog ticks.
tionwide issue with our wildlife,” Powers said during a phone interview. “Wherever people are letting their cats
out, we’re seeing this disruption in ecosystem where these tick predators are gone.” TICKS continued on page A4