There are at least 800 species of ticks worldwide. All of them are blood-feeding parasites by nature, and all follow the same life cycle: eggs are dropped between April and July, these eggs hatch into six-legged larva and immediately attach themselves to a rodent. Then they start to suck the rodent's blood. Once a larval tick has secured a sizable amount of blood, it drops off its rodent host and spends the winter on the ground. The following spring, the larva moults, giving rise to an eight-legged nymph, which repeats the same cycle as the larva, feeding and going to ground. The next spring, the nymph develops into an adult and infects a large mammal (like you).

Ticks pose many dangers to humans, ranging in severity from minor irritation to death. A localized tick infection can cause inflammation, irritation, and trauma--all considered to be relatively mild and easily treatable. More serious things will happen if the tick's secretions prove toxic to your body chemistry. In these instances, you may suffer motor paralysis, respiratory and speech difficulties, or, in extreme cases, respiratory and/or cardiac paralysis. Finally, on the extremely serious end of the danger scale, ticks carry a huge number of diseases, including Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever, Tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Colorado Tick Fever, and Lyme's Disease. Most of these diseases will prove fatal if they are not treated properly.