Upstate NY Man Shows Off Patented Tick Machine

One of the biggest worries for parents and property owners everywhere seems to be ticks. One Upstate New York teacher has a solution that a college study shows will be a must have device within 5 years time.

Jason Dean is a Kirkville resident who teaches at Union Springs High School in Western, NY. The engineer turned educator brought his patented tick collecting and killing machine in to the Keeler in the Morning studio.

Dean says the idea came to him when his niece was diagnosed with Lyme disease. The machine seems complex, but the concept is basic. The white foam rollers mimic the fur and/or skin of animals that ticks like to use as a host. Dean explained when a tick is looking to host on a new animal, it will climb to the top of the blades of grass or vegetation and begin the process of "questing." The questing allows those ticks to raise their front legs in order to cling to and crawl into the fur of the host.

His cloth, rolling machine acts as the "host" for the tick to cling to. He then removes the ticks with a vacuum-like hose and the ticks are then sucked into a water filtration system and killed by a UV light. Not only is the tick killed, but the UV light also kills everything the tick is carrying.

So, why is this device so important? Many believe ticks can only be found in wooded areas and areas of very tall grass. The truth, according to Dean, is ticks prefer to be in the actual grass of your lawn when it's dry and about 3 inches longer than it's normally cut. You and your pets are most vulnerable in this scenario. That is why the idea born from Jason Dean's brain will also be huge for landscaping professionals.

Not only will the device be available in a small version for home use, in Dean's words the "size of a tackle box," but it will also be modified to attach to the front of a push or riding lawn mower. This attachment will have economic benefits for those professionals by allowing them to add, for a small fee, tick removal to their list of services.

We spoke with Jason about his invention and he even demonstrated it outside of our WIBX studios.

Dean tells WIBX's First News with Keeler in the Morning that his project was taken on as a project at Syracuse University to estimate the economics and logistics of a device like this. The overall outlook is positive. Dean has a Facebook page that demonstrates the device, offers tips on ticks and shows off other inventions. His trade is inventing, but his passion is teaching and he blends his unique ability to inspire young minds.

Follow Jason Dean on Facebook.