TPW Video Watch a story on ticks from the TPW series on PBS . While the exact number of tick-borne illnesses in humans is unknown, it is probably less than one thousand per year. It's not a reason to stay home, but it is a reason to become informed and take reasonable precautions, which is what we're advocating here. With common sense and diligence, you can have a safe time outdoors in Texas. A bite from an infected tick can cause illnesses such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and human ehrlichiosis.
Ticks are especially prevalent in wooded, brushy and grassy areas.
Turkey hunting increases your chances of exposure to ticks. Awareness and precaution are a hunter's two greatest allies. Lone Star tick eggs, nymph, male, female, engorged female. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can cause severe skin, joint, heart and nervous system problems if it is not diagnosed and treated early. Named after the town of Lyme, Conn., where it was first described in 1976, the disease usually begins with flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, headache, fever, stiff neck and joint pain.