Oh, what a joyous day for science! We’ve got a groundbreaking study here that’s sure to revolutionize the world of… tick management. Brace yourselves, because we’re about to dive into the riveting world of Rhipicephalus microplus and cattle, a tale of intrigue set in the exotic backdrop of a tropical climate where these little bloodsuckers throw up to five parties a year.

In this thrilling episode, our heroes, the 45 naturally infested cattle, are split into three nail-biting groups. Group T01 gets the VIP treatment with the latest in tick-fighting fashion: fluralaner pour-on every 42 days. Group T02, the free-spirited rebels, start with the same fancy fluralaner but then just wing it with weekly visual tick checks. And then there’s T03, the control group, living the minimalist lifestyle with just a spritz of tick spray when things get too itchy.

The suspense builds as we count the female ticks clinging to our bovine buddies every week for nearly a year. And let’s not forget the edge-of-your-seat larval counts in the pastures. The results? Group T01 and T02 strutted their stuff with significantly fewer ticks than the control group on most dates. Meanwhile, in the control paddock, the larvae were throwing a rager with 1458 of their closest friends, while the fluralaner-treated paddocks were like ghost towns with ≤19 larvae.

The moral of the story? If you’re a cow in the tropics with a tick problem, fluralaner pour-on is your new best friend. Fewer treatments might even save you some moo-lah and keep those pesky ticks from becoming too smart for their own good. So, let’s raise a hoof to science for keeping our cattle tick-free and our pastures less wiggly. Bravo!