... for ticks, that is. Just because it is almost November doesn't mean that the ticks are done for the season. I had become complacent and had stopped routinely checking for ticks after being outside, until recently when we found a few engorged ticks on Bootypants.
This tick is in the genus
Ixodes, and I'm pretty sure it is a Deer Tick (
Ixodes scapularis). Deer Ticks (also called Black-legged Ticks) are notorious for spreading Lyme disease. After finding several of these, I have found a few unengorged adults as well.
The photograph above is an adult female, while that below is an adult male. I found the adult female crawling up my pants just yesterday after walking our trails.
You may recall two posts (
here and
here) earlier this season on the tick count contest that Lindsay, Bootypants, and I were having this year. I will provide an update once I'm pretty sure we are done with ticks for the year.
2 comments:
Wow, that does look like a fat engorged sucker :o)
Glad you found the one on your pants earlier rather than later.
I'm glad I found it, too. But now, we have to watch for them all the time. I'm sure they are often brought in the house on our clothes and the dog.
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