Thanks to the support of the Higgins Lake Foundation, this study will be useful for other lake associations across the Midwest when assessing whether merganser removal will be successful on their lake. We suggest other factors may also have influenced success, such as harassing and killing of mergansers (as opposed to just trapping and relocating), the distance of Higgins Lake from a costal waterfowl flyway, and lack of itch-causing parasite diversity. Our data suggests that a dramatic decrease in lake-wide snail density from 2016 to 2020, along with Stagnicola emarginata dominating the snail host community, help explain why merganser management has been successful on Higgins Lake and not on other lakes we have studied. Additionally, the magnitude of swimmer’s itch risk was assessed through qPCR analysis of swimmer’s itch-causing cercariae in water samples. Answer 1 of 9: When I told a co worker that we were going on Vacation in Michigan (we will be in Saugatuck, Holland, and Grand Haven) they said we would probably get Swimmers Itch and needed to rethink getting in the water. Included in the survey were biodiversity assessments of the invertebrate smail hosts and the parasites.
Patrick Hanington (University of Alberta), conducted a comprehensive survey of the schistosomes that are causative agents for swimmer’s itch on Higgins Lake in 2020. In general, we hoped to discover why several years of summer resident common merganser removal appeared to be effective on Higgins Lake, while similar remediation efforts on other lakes in NW Michigan were not.įreshwater Solutions (FWS), in collaboration with Dr. We proposed to the Higgins Lake Foundation that a repeat assessment of parasites and hosts responsible for causing swimmer’s itch on Higgins Lake would help answer some important questions, information that would advance the science of these itch-causing parasites and be beneficial to lake associations in Michigan and beyond. of University of Alberta Executive Summary
of Freshwater Solutions LLC, and Patrick Hanington Ph. Please use the link above to report any and all swimmer’s itch cases on Higgins Lake in 2022. Report A CASE OF SWIMMER’S ITCH on Higgins Lake If you aren’t sure that the brood you saw are common mergansers, click on the link anyway and you’ll be shown pictures to help you determine their identity.ģ. Report A Common Merganser BROOD on Higgins Lakeįrom June 1 – July 15 the single most important thing you can do to help us control swimmer’s itch is to report any common merganser broods you see on Higgins Lake (click the appropriate link above). Click on the link above to report the location of a common merganser nest.Ģ. Report A Common Merganser NEST on Higgins LakeĮarly spring (from ice-out until May 31) is the time of year when common mergansers nest on Higgins Lake. If you see a single common merganser flying and landing on the same tree on more than one occasion, there’s probably a nest nearby.
THREE specific ways you can do to help fight the battle against swimmer’s itch:ġ. The cold water makes it extremely unlikely that any parasites passed by these common mergansers will find and successfully infect a snail.Most of the individuals in these groups are spring migrants, meaning they only stay around Higgins Lake for a few days before continuing their journey northward to breed on lakes at a higher latitude.These particular birds do NOT contribute to spreading swimmer’s itch for the following 2 reasons: The rash only occurs on areas exposed to the lake water. Swimmers Lake, Markin Glen County Park, Cooper Charter Township.
Many of you have recently reported seeing large groups of common mergansers showing up in open water areas on Higgins Lake. Symptoms of Swimmers Itch Itchy skin rash Begins within 2 hours of swimming in a fresh water lake. To determine compliance to Michigans Water Quality Standards for total body contact. If you can’t find this tab, use these two links: Swimmer’s Itch Life Cycle and Swimmer’s Itch Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Please explore our SWIMMER’S ITCH 101 tab on the top of the page to learn more about swimmer’s itch.