Wood ticks appear to be moving into areas of the peninsula where they typically hadn't previously been found, he said. I think we're seeing them move a little more north and east. Tick populations have grown over the past decade, said Al Saverniak, a forester for the U.S. Forest Service office in Munising. There's plenty of them around. The tick that's common in the region is also known as the American dog tick.
Ticks are arachnids, like spiders.
Ticks can't fly or jump. They latch on hosts who brush past them. Once on the host, such as a dog or a person, ticks bite with small barbed teeth and begin drawing out blood. Wood ticks don't carry the dreaded Lyme disease, which has been reported only in Menominee County, said Dr. John Petrasky of the public health department for Delta and Menominee counties. People who keep their lawns mowed and shrubs and hedges trimmed shouldn't find many ticks near their homes, Bird said.