Ticks @ Vienna Woods 

We learned that a guided tour on European wildcats was going to take place in the Wienerwald (the "Vienna Woods") in Vienna. Organized by the Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), it was a tour designed to walk through wildcat habitats while learning about their ecology and traces—even though the chances of actually encountering a wildcat were almost zero. Just a few months earlier, DNA testing confirmed the presence of six breeding individuals established in the nearby Wachau region, meaning there is a very real possibility that European wildcats are roaming the Vienna Woods as well. Furthermore, in the Vienna Water Protection Forest just 30 km south of the Vienna Woods, Eurasian lynxes were confirmed between 2020 and 2021, suggesting that lynxes might also be appearing in the Vienna Woods!

Eager not to miss this opportunity, we were  just about to send an application email to join the tour. But right at that moment, ticks came to mind. Austria is one of the countries in Europe most severely affected by FSME (tick-borne encephalitis), and the vast majority of local residents are vaccinated against it. The catch is that this vaccination takes time—requiring three doses spread over six months to a year! Although we wouldn't be wading through tall grass or dense brush all that often, was it really a good idea to join the tour unvaccinated?

So, we reached out to ÖBf, the tour organizer, to ask if participating without an FSME vaccination was allowed. Their response was: "While not legally required, we strongly recommend getting vaccinated against FSME." What to do? We lingered in indecision, unable to fully let go of the idea. Then, as it turned out, the tour itself ended up being canceled. Apparently, the number of applicants fell short of the minimum group size required to run the tour.

The increasing activity of ticks in Austria is also deeply linked to climate change. Everything is connected.