Where do ticks live?

Ticks live in typically grassy or wooded areas but infest in your yard, making the danger of tick bites more probable for you, your children or your pets. They lay in wait for humans or animals to pass by their spot in the grass and then they grab on to hairs or clothing, where they then carefully crawl to the moist, dark or hairy spots on your body. Ticks are sensitive to the breath smells, body odors and vibrations or their hosts. When a host comes near, it readies itself with 1 or 2 pair of legs outstretched and ready to grab onto the host.

They cannot jump or fly but they are expert hitchhikers. Only their mouthparts enter the skin. Their saliva contains a mild anesthetic so the host will not feel the piercing of their sharp mouth entering the skin. The tick can then drink blood uninhibited until the host becomes aware of its presence. Ticks thrive in humid, moist environments and can spend most of their lives going from one host to another. They will leave the host to molt or reproduce.

Surprisingly, ticks have about a 3-10 year life cycle so they can live quite a long time. They start their lives as an egg that then hatches to a 6-legged larvae. The next stage is an 8-legged larvae and then they molt into an adult. Ticks, if allowed to do so, it can spend all stages of their life cycle living on a single host. They can feed on mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds.