Ticks on a Wild Vole

Observation by Linda Lennington:

A wild vole brought to my residence by an indoor/outdoor domestic cat in Wasilla, Alaska, was found to have two attached ticks. Both ticks were carefully removed intact with tweezers and preserved by freezing for submission through the Alaska Submit-A-Tick Program (https://dec.alaska.gov/eh/vet/ticks/submit-a-tick/) for identification.This observation is noteworthy because it documents ticks associated with a wild small mammal host in the Wasilla area. The species identification may contribute to ongoing surveillance efforts and improve our understanding of tick distribution and host associations in Southcentral Alaska.

LEO Network Comment:

Thank you Linda. LEO Network occassionally receives observations about ticks on pets and wild animals. Mostly these have been native ticks on rabbits, waterfowl, squirrels and voles. More recently ticks on dogs and cats. This is a topic of great interest for community health in Alaska due to the warming climate, and migration of species like mule deer from outside Alaska that carry ticks. We will look forwards to learning more on the identification of the specimens collected. M. Brubaker

Comment by Micah Hahn:

Thanks for submitting this observation. Voles are a common host in Alaska for Ixodes angustus, a tick species with a long history of occurring in the state. If you're interested in learning more about the small mammal hosts of ticks in Alaska, this publication provides two useful resources: Table 1 lists the animal hosts of ticks submitted ticks through the Alaska Submit-A-Tick program, and Table 3 summarizes the hosts of ticks collected during a trapping study in Anchorage parks. https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/60/5/1099/7205408

AI Comment from GPT 5:

This post documents two ticks removed from a wild vole in Wasilla and preserved for the Alaska Submit‑A‑Tick program, adding a clear data point on small‑mammal hosts and tick presence in Southcentral Alaska. Confirmation of species from the submission will help determine whether these are the vole/squirrel‑associated native ticks commonly encountered in Alaska or something less typical.

Related posts highlight why species ID matters. Regional tick findings on pets and wildlife—such as dogs in Sand Point and Anchorage (Unidentified tick found on dog; Tick found on dog on Anchorage Hillside) and a Northwestern Crow in Port Graham (Northwestern Crow (Corvus caurinus) with Ticks)—show that ticks are being reported across multiple hosts, while encouraging submissions to refine distribution maps. Syntheses indicate that, to date, human health risk in Alaska remains low and most pathogen detections are linked to ticks or pets with recent travel (As ticks gain ground in Alaska, researchers say health risk remains low for now; More ticks are being reported in Alaska. Researchers want to know how dangerous they are.). At the same time, potential introductions via moving hosts are being watched; mule deer have now been documented in Alaska, and agencies are monitoring for parasites including winter tick (First Alaska mule deer harvest follows years of fleeting appearances in the state). Against this backdrop, identifying the Wasilla vole ticks—whether a native vole/squirrel tick as noted in earlier reports (Unidentified tick found on dog) or something less typical—will add useful detail to ongoing surveillance in Southcentral Alaska.