In 1918, the board established the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Lab in Hamilton. At first an old schoolhouse, it eventually became the setting for much of the dramatic research on spotted fever and many other diseases. In 1934, it became a federal research facility and one of the most important labs in the medical entomology field. It was Cooley's organizational ability, says Mullen, that made it possible for the state and federal government to devote resources and people to tackle this problem. His scientific skills were considerable as well.
Wood ticks require a blood meal from three different hosts to complete their development.
When they hatch, they attach to ground squirrels or similarly sized animals in order to pass to the nymph stage. Nymphs will seek a dog-sized host and, once they've gorged, will become adults. The adults will seek larger animals such as humans or cattle. This knowledge was significant, says Greg Johnson, current head of the MSU-Bozeman Entomology Department, because it meant that control efforts needed to be targeted at the adult tick which transmitted the disease. As a result, early control efforts involved dipping livestock in a solution poisonous to the ticks.