Check Me for TICKS!!!

Ticks are actually from the arachnid family. One of the most interesting characteristics of a tick is the fact that they actually grow and extra set of legs as adults. Seed (or baby) ticks start there life with six legs and after they get there first meal they grow another pair of legs. Seed ticks have been known to swarm onto animals in mass numbers as high as 30,000 at a time. Ticks do not fly or jump to get on to an animal. They do tend to climb into bushes or tree and then fall onto there next meal as you or your horse walk past. It is important to remember that ticks can carry illnesses from one animal to another. In fact, ticks are the primary disease vector in domestic animals. In terms of human illness, only one parasite spreads more illness — the mosquito. Ticks can spread a wide variety of disease-causing organisms, including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. A freshly hatched tick might be free from disease, but as soon as it takes a meal from an infected animal, it becomes a potential disease vector. In fact, ticks can carry more diseases than any other arthropod in the world. Their efficiency at spreading infection comes from the way they feed. Many tick species feed on at least three hosts before they die. If one host is sick, the tick can carry the infection to the others.