Ticks are responsible for a lot of diseases and illnesses in both dogs and humans. One of the most well-known and serious tick-borne diseases is Lyme Disease.
This disease has no cure and causes a lot of symptoms, but people are often unaware that their problem is Lyme disease. They may experience aches and joint pain, feel a general malaise and run a low-grade fever.
Aside from the diseases they carry, they are just gross little creatures. They latch onto skin and suck blood, burying their head in the skin of their hose and gorging until their body swells full of blood. They are parasitic in nature and they are good at finding a host, either your dog, you, or another animal. But can they jump from your dog to you?
Thankfully, the answer to that is no, but they can be transferred from dog to you by crawling. Ticks don’t jump, nor do they fly. This is one small thing to be thankful for.
How Do Ticks Find a Host?
Ticks are able to hang-out in the grass and simply wait for a host to come by. They crawl out to the edge of a blade of grass and wait there for you an unsuspecting creature to pass by. They feel the vibration of them coming. They stretch out their front legs, waiting for the new host to come closer.
They can smell the breath of their host as it comes closer. With arms reaching out like a baby to be picked up, he waits and when you make contact with the blade of grass, he latches on quickly. From there, he will crawl and make his way to bare skin.
If you weren’t already grossed out by ticks, you surely are now, right? They are creepy insects that we don’t need much of an excuse to dislike anyway but given their parasitic ways and their disease spreading, we really don’t like ticks!
When a tick lays eggs on your dog, which they will likely do, those will hatch into little larvae that will also feed on your dog, but then it gets even ickier. The larvae will fall off when engorged and turn into a small tick. They will look for a new host for their next meal – which could easily be you or anyone in your house or your yard.
Once they have fed, they can drop off and continue living in your house until they need to latch onto a host again for another feeding. This is a very disgusting cycle and if this tick is spreading Lyme Disease, soon everyone in your house could have it.
Where Do Ticks Live?
Ticks live in warm, damp climates. They thrive in the southern states with high humidity. They love to hang about on the forest floor, where they wait for a host. The problem is that unless a wild animal comes along, like a deer or skunk, they don’t have a lot of menu options out in the forest.
This means that when your dog comes bopping down the trail, or you, that you are a welcomed buffet for ticks. They’ve been waiting a long time to eat and you become their target.
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