Next time you see a tick, don’t scream, toss it in the mail

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Missouri conservation officials are asking people to save the ticks they come across while tromping through the woods and toss them in the mail.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that the Missouri Department of Conservation and A.T. Still University in Kirksville have partnered in a two-year research study.

It begins this month and will conclude in September 2022.

During that time, residents are urged to mail live ticks to the university to be identified by species and life stage and tested for four species of bacterial pathogens.