Ticks in Winter

Today’s post is a collaborative endeavor between my treasured buddy/granddaughter, seven year old “Cherry” Jones and myself. I had mentioned to her that my subject was going to be ticks and that I had no photographs. She immediately suggested she could do illustrations, so here they are!

We were quite surprised just a few days ago, at the end of December to find that ticks are still active. It’s been much too warm for the ticks to seek their normal refuge in leaf litter or an underground burrow where they normally stay for extended stretches until temperatures warm again. So our warmer than usual temperatures this late autumn and winter mean we are out of luck. And the ticks are happy and active.

During the warm times when ticks are hungry, hoping for hosts, they sometimes take on a tactic called questing. They select the perfect blade of grass, or leaf of a low growing bush, and grasp its edge with their third and fourth pair of legs. Waving their front legs to reach out into the air waiting for that unsuspecting mammal to come by to provide the meal they need. In the illustration above you see a blade of grass with a tick perched on it, just waiting for a hiker to come by.