Do ticks jump?

There is good news when it comes to ticks. They do not jump and they definitely don’t fly. Ticks use other methods to find a host. Ticks have special sensory organs that allow them to smell the carbon dioxide you exhale. They can even sense body odor, vibrations, body heat, and the moisture you breathe out. There are a few types of tick that can even sense when a animal shadow passes by them. Despite all of these amazing sensory techniques, most ticks rely upon their ability to grab onto a host. Using their myriad of sensory equipment, ticks find trails where they know that people and other animals frequent.

Once a suitable location is found, the tick will climb up some vegetation and begin questing. Questing is when a tick uses its bottom four legs to hold onto the vegetation(grass, forbes, shrubs), and uses it other four legs to reach out into the air. The second something comes into contact with their outstretched legs, they grab ahold. Once they get ahold of you, they then wander your clothing until they find a nice area of warm skin. That is when they sink their teeth into you and being to feast upon your blood. So while ticks cannot jump or fly, they are excellent at crawling to places where they can gain access to you, your pets, and any other warm blooded animal.