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During spring and summer, a hard-to-spot threat lurks in the woods: ticks. These arachnids and their bites, often discovered by unpleasant surprise, can cause harmful side effects ranging from fever, fatigue and muscle aches to more serious conditions like Lyme disease. Common sentiment suggests that tick control comes from an unexpected source. People share and re-share their knowledge that possums (or, more properly, opossums), the white-faced critters known for eating garbage, also eat ticks. Is that true? Do opossums really dine on ticks? For that matter, do birds eat ticks?
Here’s what you should know about nature’s tick control, including what’s bogus and what’s not.
What Foods Do Possums Eat?
It’s a convenient “fun fact,” but unfortunately it’s not true. Opossums don’t chow down on ticks in the way that social media memes and convenient, uninformed soundbites suggest. While the origin of this myth has its roots in a single 2009 study, more recent research completed in 2021 asserts the opposite.
According to Illinois-based researchers who examined the stomach contents of 32 opossum carcasses (and referenced and analyzed similar studies dating back to 1851), an opossum’s diet does not, in fact, include ticks as a staple. Opossums more consistently eat garbage, eggs, carrion, and nuts than ticks. As a result, if people are putting out food to encourage these furry critters to visit their backyards, they will be disappointed that blood-sucking parasites still lurk nearby.
While the 2009 study was likely accurate in its conclusion that opossums will eat a tick that latches onto them, more recent claims hold that opossums don’t eat thousands of ticks. They’re certainly not eating 5,500 in a week.
Learn facts about vultures, another member of nature’s “clean-up crew.”
Do Birds Eat Ticks?
Some bird species do eat ticks. Chickens, guinea fowl, and turkeys all eat ticks in some capacity, although scientific research on the subject is limited. Turkeys, for example, aren’t so adept at eating ticks that they could be considered tick control on their own. It’s likely that these birds will eat one if they encounter it — and if it latches onto them — but they, like opossums, probably don’t seek out ticks to consume. Some sources also list American robins, blue jays, crows, grackles, woodpeckers or other insect-eating birds as potential tick-eaters.
Opossums don’t eat many ticks — but do purple martins eat mosquitoes?
What Other Types of Wildlife Eat Ticks?
Beyond birds and (occasionally) opossums, which other animals provide tick control? Ants and spiders eat ticks, although most homeowners wouldn’t want a massive anthill in their yard. Frogs, toads, and some lizards eat ticks, too.
Ultimately, our best defense against ticks is still taking reasonable precautions. Keep your lawn mowed during the summer, and eliminate damp, shady places ticks might hide, such as in trash piles. Outside of your yard, wear protective clothing when hiking, stay out of tall grass and on marked trails, and keep long pants tucked into hiking boots or closed-toe shoes. Complete a tick-check after you’re done with your hike or working, and remove any you do find within 24 hours.
