Tick Facts

• Color: Reddish-brown in color
• Appearance: A hard tick has a tough shield like shell and they are usually shaped like a flat seed before feeding. Soft ticks do not have a hard shield and are shaped like a raisin.

Tick Behavior

Ticks are external parasites that feed off of blood as their main food source. Although many believe that ticks are insects, ticks are actually arachnids, like spiders. There are many different species of ticks that are divided into two main categories: hard ticks, such as the common dog tick, and soft ticks.

Ticks are parasitic insects that survive by taking blood from mammals, birds and reptiles. It is also common for ticks to attach and feed off of to humans. In addition to being uncomfortable and irritating, tick bites can carry a variety of diseases and must be treated correctly and monitored closely.