Please read the Fact Sheets called Contagious Diseases and Activity-Related Soft Tissue Disorders for a list of what they are. There are more than 20 species of ticks in British Columbia, but only three species normally bite humans. Although the bites may sometimes be painful and slow healing, there is little danger of disease provided they are removed promptly. Adult ticks are distinguished from insects by having eight legs rather than six. They cannot jump or fly and do not drop from trees.
Ticks require blood as a source of protein for egg development.
There is no need to fear or avoid tick-infested country. A few simple precautions, outlined in this pamphlet, will decrease the likelihood of tick bites. . . . The Western Black-legged tick is very common during the spring and early summer. It occurs on vegetation in warm, moist areas on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and along the mainland coast between the United States border and Powell River. Its eastward range extends along the Fraser River to Yale and north to Boston Bar.