Ticks are parasitic, blood-feeding arthropods that mainly attack mammals, birds, and reptiles. They are vectors of many diseases including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, relapsing fever, Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and tularemia.

In North America, young ticks (nymphs or seed ticks) prefer to feed during the warmer months when people tend to spend more time outdoors. Most cases of Lyme disease occur during the months of May, June, and July, when young ticks are most active. They are very small and difficult to detect. Adult ticks feed in the fall and are generally easier to spot and remove.

Children 5-9 years of age are among the most susceptible group to a tick bite.  Tick bites on children frequently occur on the upper parts of the body, especially on the head, neck, and under the armpit, so if you have a child that likes to take romps through the forest, visual inspections (and prompt tick removal) can be helpful in the prevention of disease (adults are more likely to be bitten on the lower legs).

As is the case with most blood-feeding insects, carbon dioxide (from your expired breath) will also attract ticks to you.  Some ticks can recognize chemical cues left behind by passing animals or humans on plants, and may wait patiently on or near these areas to ambush their host.

Some studies indicate that ticks are also attracted to squalene, which is an abundant, naturally occurring skin secretion found in humans and mammals.

Ticks can settle and feed in moist areas such as around the groin, navel, and behind the knees.  They also prefer to bite in unexposed areas (out of direct sunlight). Some ticks, such as the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) (pictured above left), favor the head and neck areas for attachment.

In US studies in California hardwood forests, researchers found that certain human behaviors were riskier than others for tick encounters.  People most at risk were those who just sat on logs, followed by those out gathering wood, sitting against trees, walking, and sitting on leaf litter.

Depending on the age of the tick and the person bitten, ticks may spend up to 24 hours on your body before they even begin to feed, but may need only 8 hours before disease may be transmitted.  Infection is transmitted faster by adult ticks.

An interesting Swedish study found that women 40 years or older had an almost 50% greater risk of attracting ticks to them than men of the same age.  Moreover, they had an almost 100% higher risk of being bitten than men who were younger than 40 years of age.

Keep in mind that ticks are attracted to light-colored clothing. Some entomologists advise people to wear light colors to make ticks more visible to you, in which case, they can be spotted and removed easier. My suggestion is to wear dark clothing to reduce your exposure, and follow some of the other recommendations given below.

To lessen your exposure to ticks:

• Wear a hat and closed-toe shoes.
• Wear long pants (tucked into socks).
• Use repellents.
• Inspect your own (or your child’s) body daily for ticks.
• Reduce tick habitat by removing leaf litter and woodpiles, mowing grasses, and clearing brush.

• Build fences to exclude deer from residential yards.
• Stay on trails if you are hiking in the forest.
• Do not feed birds during the summer.
• Control exposure to pets by checking them frequently for ticks.
• Wear dark clothing (ticks are attracted to white and light colors).

Keep in mind that ticks attached to clothing that is laundered in washing machines are not always killed outright.  Young (nymphal) ticks have survived hot water washes using detergents in experiments.  Setting clothes dryers to high heat for at least an hour should insure tick mortality on clothing, however.

Forests, lawns, areas with leaf litter or shrub cover, and watered areas all tend to be desired habitats for ticks.

Ticks that transmit Lyme disease prefer moist, humid conditions, and are sensitive to dehydration.
Homes built near the forest edge are especially prone to having increased numbers of ticks in the area.

If you live adjacent to woodlands, creating a barrier several feet wide of wood chips, mulch, or gravel between your grass and the woods, will offer increased protection against tick bites.

Nymphal (young) ticks are often found in leaf litter, and can also be found concentrated near stone walls and on hollow, fallen logs. These sites provide ideal nesting areas for mice and other small rodents that they feed upon. Adult ticks seem to prefer tall grasses. Keeping your backyard mowed and free of debris will greatly reduce their numbers.

If you play golf, you may want to know that deer ticks (currently known as black-legged ticks and pictured above right) are often present in large numbers in the surrounding woods adjacent to fairways. They are much less common on fairways due to the closely mowed grasses there. If you are less than a scratch golfer, you may want to examine more than your game after a round or two.
In forests, black-legged ticks tend to be more numerous when their vertebrate hosts (such as deer) are also more abundant.

Ticks tend to migrate and congregate along roadsides and along the road edges of adjacent fields. They may be attracted to the carbon dioxide emitted by passing car exhausts in their search for prey. Mowing these areas will help greatly to reduce their numbers here.

Ticks can survive the cold.  In fact, deer ticks have been captured in areas where there was 70% snow cover and temperatures as low as 28° F. Ticks can be attracted to alternate sources of CO2 such as dry ice.

Eliminate mouse breeding sites such as abandoned bird nests, tree cavities, woodpiles, etc. which attract ticks.
In studies in New York, human exposure to ticks that transmit Lyme disease was found to be related to the abundance of white-footed mice in the area.  Since these mice primarily feed on acorns, acorn abundance helped to increase the number of mice.

Cats have fewer ticks than dogs due to their more efficient grooming habits.

Birds are the primary predators of ticks; however, ants, spiders, beetles, mites, and some mice also feed on them. There are also minute wasps (chalcids) that parasitize and kill ticks.

Chickens like to eat ticks as well, and may even have potential as biological control agents. Ticks will also prey on each other when overcrowded on the same host.