Ticks are blood feeding parasites of humans, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Although ticks are commonly thought of as insects, they are actually arachnids like scorpions, spiders and mites. They are often found in grassy, brushy areas where they wait for a host to pass by. Their bite is not painful and  sometimes goes unnoticed.

Ticks frequently wait for a host on vegetation along trails and paths traveled by people or animals. These areas include woodlands, weedy or brushy areas, lawns, and dog kennels.

Life Cycle
All of the common ticks of Tennessee have four life stages — egg, larva, nymph and adult.  Each of the stages, other than the egg, requires a separate animal host to complete its development, which, all together, may be two or three years long

1. An adult female tick drops off her final host, lays her eggs and dies.
2. Larvae – stay on grasses or other leaves and stems not far from ground level. Lucky individuals complete that stage after attaching to a host, feeding, and dropping off. The larval stage can cause intense itching on humans, but does not transmit disease.
3. Larvae molt and emerge as the nymph stage, about 1.5 mm long and again climb a grass stem to await a host. Nymphs usually overwinter and follow the same feeding process the next year. The nymph stage also causes intense itching in humans.
4. Adults are amazingly stealthy on humans in spite of their size, and may not be noticed until they have been attached for a considerable time.  The adult tick overwinter as well.

Kinds of Ticks
Three kinds of ticks are frequently encountered around homes or in recreation areas in Tennessee. These are the American dog tick, lone star tick and the brown dog tick

Dog Tick
The American dog tick is a dark brown tick that can be identified by the randomly arranged silver streaks on the back of both the male and female. The immature stages feed  primarily on rodents, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, etc., but never on humans. Adults are found on larger and will attach to humans, dogs, cattle and deer.

Lone Star Tick
The lone star tick is a reddish brown tick that is slightly smaller than the American dog tick. The adult female has a conspicuous white spot on the middle of her back that gives this species its common name. Unlike the American dog tick, all stages of this species will attack people readily. Adults and nymphs are present and searching for hosts as soon as the weather becomes warm in the spring. They decrease in numbers as the summer progresses and are less frequently encountered after early September. The larvae, known as seed ticks, are encountered in masses on vegetation and may result in hundreds of individual bites on one person. Wounds left by attachment of all stages result in discolored itchy spots that may take two weeks to heal. Larval masses are encountered from late July until a killing frost in the fall, but most frequently in August and September

Brown Dog Tick
The brown dog tick is uniformly dark reddish-brown, similar in appearance to the American dog tick, but smaller and without any light-colored markings on the back. This tick is known to attack dogs and other animals, but rarely humans. It is usually found inside buildings where dogs live, such as houses, dog kennels and runs. It may sometimes be found on porches, in backyards or other sheltered places frequented by dogs. It is usually found in the spring and summer months.

Health Concerns
Colorado Tick Fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease are all diseases transmitted by ticks. Lyme Disease symptoms mimic the flu but if left untreated can lead to long term health problems. Lyme Disease is ofter transmitted by the deer tick. If you have been bitten by a tick and feel ill, see your doctor immediately.