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I took an acarology class where we dissected them under a scope and looked at their innards. They have beating hearts! Ticks fascinate me. I am such a nerd. :)

Yay! I love this game. You are correct on all counts.

I am a bug scientist and I endorse this message.

When ticks bite, they secrete cement to anchor their mouthparts. It takes quite a bit of time for them to bite, and then when they take their meal, they secrete an enzyme that dissolves this cement so they can drop off. That also takes quite a bit of time. From bite to drop off, they are on you...

We have an effective vaccine for dogs, but not for people. We can thank the anti-vaccine crowd for that.

As long as you get the tick out ASAP after you find it. That is the key. Once a tick is embedded, it secretes cement so it is actually unable to detach. Pulling it out is still the best option, if you leave some of the mouthparts in your skin, it's not a huge deal. It'll come out!

A Rain of Organs. I love the blubber-flattened Cadillac.

The exploding whale is one of the best stories ever. It is the perfect marriage of lack of common sense and complete absence of forethought. It will never get old.

My best guess would be because the pines is where the hosts are. Hosts for Lone Star ticks are typically deer and wild turkeys but they need to feed a few times during their life, so they can choose a number of hosts, including you!

I thought this was an interesting article on the biodynamics of vector-borne disease. https://www.dovepress.com/the-relationship-between-biodiversity-and-disease-transmission-risk-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-RRBS

Also something to note: Black-legged ticks have a two year life cycle, so the weather pattern and other ecological factors of two years ago will have an effect on the population now.

Tick populations (speaking in terms of absolute numbers) wax and wane over time. Ticks of some species are definitely spreading to new areas, shortly followed by the diseases they carry. Lone Star ticks are increasing their territory at sort of an alarming rate, as are black-legged ticks. I...

I love how popular this camera is. I've been tuned in for about a week. What a thrill to see an eaglet this morning!

I have to fly to Knoxville next week. Should be interesting from the plane.

What a travesty. We figured it would happen eventually. Small airports are disappearing at an alarming rate. We loved the restaurant there, and that plane-shaped pool is so cool.

How odd that gas prices jumped in Michigan by 23 cents overnight.

Oh dear God.

These are beautiful! What are you shooting with?

that looks a lot like the formitopsis we get here in Michigan. I am no mycologist though, so I am probably wrong.

I love the little ones underneath, too. They are just phenomenal, like they belong in a storybook.