2.5 Soft ticks survey
Warthog burrows within NGR were identified with the assistance of game
scouts during their regular patrols. When a warthog burrow was
encountered, we looked for signs of activity (tracks and droppings) then
GPS coordinates were recorded. A 20 litre bucket was used to collect
sand from each burrow which was spread in a thin layer across a large,
black plastic sheet in the sun. Due to photophobic nature of soft ticks,
the sunlight and warm temperatures encourages Ornithodoros tick
movement and facilitates tick detection as well as collection. A minimum
period of 30 minutes per burrow was allowed, to ensure that tick
movement would be elicited and that all visible ticks were collected
(Ferran Jori et al., 2013)