Tick is any of numerous small animals that are closely related to mites. Ticks and mites belong to a large group of animals called arachnids. This group also includes spiders and scorpions. Ticks are parasites, feeding only on animal body fluids. Various ticks cause diseases in human beings and domesticated animals. These ticks often carry certain disease germs in their bodies, transferring the germs to the blood of animals on which they feed. Some kinds of ticks can inflict a venomous bite. In rare cases, such bites have caused paralysis in human beings.
The rounded body of a tick seems to consist of one piece. But some ticks have a groove behind the head. The head is a movable part at the front end of the body. Ticks draw blood through a beak. The animals also use their front legs to cling tightly to their host. Adult ticks have eight legs, but young ticks have only six.
A tick lays eggs in dead leaves or other ground debris. The eggs hatch into flat, six-legged larvae. These larvae wait on grass stalks and shrubs to attach themselves to passing animals. Once attached, they gorge on the blood of these animals and swell up enormously. The larvae then stop eating and molt (shed their outer covering). After this, they become eight-legged nymphs. The nymphs resume feeding, molt once more, and then are adults.
While the various kinds of ticks have special names, such as chicken, cattle, dog, or sheep tick, few of them are limited to one kind of animal. Many that attack animals also annoy human beings.
The American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever to human beings. This disease causes a small number of deaths each year. Deer ticks, also called black-legged ticks, transmit Lyme disease to human beings. If untreated, this disease can lead to chronic arthritis and heart and nerve disorders. Sheep ticks infest dogs and cattle.
To remove a tick, use fine tweezers or a commercial tick-removing tool. Grasp the tick’s mouthparts as close to the skin as possible. Grasping the body may cause the head or mouthparts to break off and cause infection. Apply a firm, steady pull to remove the tick. Do not try to remove a tick by burning it off, or by coating it with nail polish, oil, petroleum jelly, or alcohol. These methods do not work and can prove dangerous. Avoid handling the tick with bare hands if the hands have cuts or scratches. Wash the hands after removing the tick and apply an antiseptic to the wound. Save the tick for identification.
