Where Ticks Hang-out
Deer ticks are found in places near potential hosts. In Nevada County, those include; deer, squirrel, mice, rabbits, birds, lizards, woodrats, bobcats, skunks, gophers, dogs, cats, humans and other animals with blood.
Blood meals are required for growth. Black-legged ticks (aka Deer Ticks) are hard-bodied and require a host to progress through each life stage. Between meals, they wait, often going into diapause, a state of suspended development.
When not connected to a host, ticks require cool moist places like;
- leaf litter
- overgrown shrubs
- high grass
- wooded areas
- woodpiles
- low branches
- logs
- bird feeders
- moisture-retaining garden features such as mulch or stone walls
Myths
Ticks do not;
- jump
- drop from trees
- fly
They only crawl and climb. To move long distances, ticks must do so while attached to a host.
How Ticks Sense Hosts and Know When to Ready Their Grappling Hooks
- body odor
- vibration
- heat
- breath
- moisture

Questing Behavior
Questing is when a tick prepares to latch onto a host. Like a pirate with a grappling hook, a tick perches at the end of grass blades or branches, waiting with outstretched front legs. After hooking onto hair or clothing, the tick begins to ascend. They travel up, looking for locations with thinner skin and for places where hosts cannot reach.


Life Span
In warm climates, a tick’s life span may only last a year. In Nevada County, where it’s cold, a tick has a three-year life span.
Fall through Winter
Tick life starts out as an egg.
Larvae hatch with six legs. *They go into diapause, suspended development, whenever weather conditions are not ideal.
Spring
The larva attaches to a host – usually a small animal – for its first blood meal – which can last from days to weeks – then drops off.
Summer through Winter
After molting, a larva becomes a nymph, gains two additional legs, and overwinters in this stage.
2nd Spring
Nymphs seek out a host for a second blood meal – which can last from days to weeks – then drops off.
2nd Summer through Winter
Nymphs molt into adults and overwinter in this stage.
3rd Spring
Adults seek out a third blood meal – usually on a large animal – where they feed and mate through the summer. Males die after mating.
3rd Fall
Females drop off the host to lay eggs on the ground. She’ll lay about twenty eggs a day and can lay over a thousand in a month-and-a-half. At this life stage, most of her body weight is comprised of the eggs. When she’s finished laying, her body collapses.
*Engorged females, ready to lay eggs will look for soil as a first choice, but if she drops off inside a house, she will seek places like hampers, bathroom rugs, or a pile of damp laundry.

Hardiness
Using diapause, ticks can survive long periods of drought. They can also survive underwater for two to three days and can last for two years without a blood meal.
Most Active
Adult black-legged ticks (aka Deer Ticks) are most active after the first frost in fall and again in spring.
Squirrels Carry Bacteria
In California, the Western gray squirrel is known to harbor the bacterium –Borrelia burgdorferi– that causes Lyme Disease. Ticks pick this up during their first or second blood meal.
Lizards – Western Lyme Heros

While in the larva or nymph stage, ticks frequently find lizard hosts.

A protein in lizard blood kills the Lyme disease causing bacteria.
Lizards may be the reason Lyme Disease is not as prevalent in the western states as it is in the east.
Once a tick is finished with its lizard liquid, the bacteria won’t be transmitted to the next host.
Predators
Ants, frogs, lizards, poultry, and opossums.
Tick Inspection & Bite Prevention
- Wear light-colored clothes – long pants + long-sleeved shirts.
- Apply bug spray with at least 20% Deet. (Permethrin on clothes only.)
- Keep to the middle of the trail and try not to brush against branches or grass.
- Frequently stop to check pant legs for ticks.
- Check companions for ticks in places they can’t see.
- Also do periodic checks on animals, focusing on head, ears, and neck.
- If possible, shower within two hours of spending time in a tick zones.
Tick Removal
Because ticks have numbing agents in their saliva, you won’t feel it when mouthparts penetrate.
With tweezers, grab the tick close to the skin and pull straight out.
Ticks & Disease
“Ticks transmit the widest variety of pathogens of any blood-sucking arthropod, including bacteria, rickettsiae, protozoa, and viruses,” comments Larisa Vredevoe, Ph.D, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis
**It’s important to remove ticks as soon as possible. It takes between 36 to 48 hours for a Borrelia burgdorferi carrier tick to transmit the bacteria from the gut to the salivary glands.
Interactive Lyme Disease and Tick Survey
From the data on the Interactive Lyme Disease and Tick Survey,
the majority of Lyme disease causing ticks in Nevada County come from the South Yuba River watershed.
Nevada County Cases of Lyme Disease
Between 2000 and 2016, Nevada County reported 48 cases of Lyme Disease
Nevada County, incidence per 100,000 person-years = 2.73
The highest risk counties in California are; Trinity, Humboldt, and Mendocino.
Seek Medical Attention
If a rash or skin irritation occurs after a tick bite, promptly seek medical attention.


If you’re not too ‘bugged’ by this post, you might also like Fleas and Disease in the California Gold Rush
Resources:
Bay Area Lyme Foundation – Are Deer to Blame?
California Department of Public Health – Lyme Disease
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Tick prevention, removal, symptoms, and data
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology – Blocking pathogen transmission at the source: reservoir targeted OspA-based vaccines against Borrelia burgdorferi
John Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center – Preventing Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease Association – Tick Removal
Nevada County Tick ID & Testing & Q and A PDF’s
Nevada County Reports of Lyme disease by the year
New York Times – Lyme Diseases’s Worst Enemy? It Might be Foxes
SF Gate – Lizards Slow Lyme Disease in West / Ticks bite them – and leave with purified blood
San Mateo County Mosquito & Vector Control District – Lizards, Ticks and Lyme Disease
Smithsonian Magazine (VIDEO) – Mother tick laying eggs
The Union (2008) Ticks that cause Lyme disease are prevalent in county
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology – California Ticks & Tick Biology
University of California, Berkeley – Feeding on lizard blood strips ticks of dangerous Lyme disease bacterium
University of California San Francisco (2018) Lyme Disease is on the Rise – An Expert Explains Why
University of California San Francisco – Gene Signature Could Lead to a New Way of Diagnosing Lyme
WebMD – All about Ticks FAQ 2019
University of California TV – Lyme Disease – History and Current Controversies (2013)