The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, USDA is aware that people across the country have received suspicious, unsolicited packages of seed that appear to be coming from China. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, other federal agencies, and State departments of agriculture to investigate the situation.
By Hayley Donahue, DVM
As the summer approaches, owners need to consider management practices needed to help their horses get through the hot weather. It is important to understand the normal physiology of the horse when exercised in hot or humid weather. During exercise the body generates heat faster than at rest. A large percentage of the stored energy used by the body during physical activity is converted to heat rather than motion. The more strenuous the activity the more body heat is generated. Additional heat generated during exercise results in an elevation of core body temperature from resting values (range, 99-100 F) to an excess of 102-106°F. The horse’s body attempts to cool itself by dissipating excess heat via sweating. In response to exercise, sweat glands are triggered to produce sweat. The subsequent evaporation of sweat carries heat from the body and helps to lower body temperature to a safe range. An important point to remember is that high humidity decreases the sweat evaporation rate, therefore slowing the cooling process. This is especially important in the heat and humidity of the summer. High temperatures and humidity decrease the horse’s ability to cool. If the rate of body temperature cooling is not satisfactory to match the ambient conditions, heat stress can develop.
Continue reading Summer’s Coming: Hot Weather Care for Horses
July 22,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In recent months, the exotic longhorned tick has been found in New Jersey, including one identified in Bergen County. This invasive species uses humans, other mammals, and birds as hosts. Longhorned ticks found thus far in New Jersey have tested negative for pathogens dangerous to humans or animals, but in other countries these insects have spread disease to humans.
Various local, state, and federal animal health agencies, as well as Rutgers–New Brunswick, are working together to identify the range of the ticks and develop a plan to eliminate them from the areas where they are found. Like deer-ticks, the nymphs of the Longhorned tick are very small (resembling tiny spiders) and can easily go unnoticed on animals and people.
To avoid tick bites, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture recommends the following:
Apply a tick repellent containing at least 20% DEET to exposed skin and clothing.
Apply a product containing permethrin to clothing to kill ticks.
Stay in the middle of trails. Avoid contact with tall grasses, shrubs, fallen leaves, and logs under trees.
Check yourself for ticks often and remove any ticks before leaving this area.
Check your pet for ticks, keep pets on trails.
Bathe or shower as soon as possible to wash off and more easily find ticks.
Check your entire body for ticks for several days after you leave this area.
