Tick Facts

Ticks are deadly and interesting creatures. Enjoy the ultimate list of tick facts! We have compiled 15 of the most unique tick factoids for your reading enjoyment. Learn about ticks in a fast format.

Tick Fact #1

Ticks are old school; evolutionary biologists believe ticks have existed on this planet for 300 million years.

Tick Fact #2

Ticks have been found fossilized in 100 million-year-old amber.

Tick Fact #3

It is believed ticks used to drink the blood of feathered dinosaurs.

Tick Fact #4

There are nearly 900 known species of ticks.

Tick Fact #5

Ticks can be found in every continent on the globe.

Tick Fact #6

Ticks can transmit bacteria, viruses, and even allergies. A bite from the Lone star tick can infect you with Alfa gal allergy, you will become allergic to red meat.

Tick Fact #7

Ticks look like beetles, but unlike beetles they are not insects, they are arachnids, more like a spider.

Tick Fact #8

Some ticks can live nearly a year without food or water.

Tick Fact #9

Ticks can infect you with multiple diseases in a single bite.

Tick Fact #10

You do not feel a tick’s bite, which is why tick repellent and a daily tick check are so important. Ticks have special saliva designed to numb the bite spot, making you unable to realize you are bitten, so they may feed on you unnoticed.

Tick Fact #11

Not all ticks grab a hold of you as you walk by them, some will climb into trees and jump off onto your head or back as you pass under their hiding spot.

Tick Fact #12

Lyme disease is the most prolific tick-borne disease in the world, annual cases in the United States (including unreported cases) are estimated at over 700,000

Tick Fact #13

Powassan virus is the deadliest tick-borne disease, Powassan virus mortality rates run from 10 – 20 percent. Compare that to Covid-19, which has a mortality rate of less than 1%.

Tick Fact #14

Ticks are very committed when they bite. Most ticks have only 3 hosts during their life, which means if a tick is attached to your leg, you are 1/3 of the food for its entire existence.

Tick Fact #15

Africa’s giant Hyalomma tick may be the world’s scariest tick. It is four times the size of an average tick and does not hunt by questing, it runs after its prey! A Hyalomma tick will chase you for 325 feet or more, nearly the length of a football field.