Lyme Disease is transmitted through tick bites. Yes, you heard me correctly. Ok, I'll be honest. I've had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have an illness caused by a tick bite. All seriousness aside, it's just...well, just so....redneck. But all joking aside, because of what they could possibly be carrying, ticks are serious business, and they deserve some serious respect.
So, Lyme Disease is most commonly transmitted through the bite of a tick, usually a deer tick. These are not the same as ticks that are generally seen on dogs, which can often be much larger than deer ticks. Dogs, of course, can also host deer ticks...but if you've ever pulled a tick off a dog, usually they're much bigger than the kind of tick that a human would be able to miss.
About 10 years ago, our Golden Retriever, Buddy, picked up several ticks on an overnight backpacking trip to Siouxon Falls in Washington State. By the time we discovered the ticks four or five days after the trip, they were engorged with blood, and each of them was the size of a large honey bee. Obviously, if one of those were attached to you, it would be hard to miss.
Deer ticks are very small insects, although I had no idea how small. Deer ticks can vary in size, but generally speaking, a full grown tick is around the size of a sesame seed. Unfortunately in the nymph stage, (the stage where a human bite is most likely to occur) they are as tiny as a poppy seed, or even the period at the end of this sentence. Like most people, I had no idea they could be so small. In addition, when they bite, they release an anesthetic of sorts, numbing the area of attachment. They also release an adhesive-like substance around their body, so that they are held in place as they feed. From what I've read, they usually look like a tiny raised freckle.
Ticks are very sensitive to dryness, so in dry weather they burrow into tree bark or hide under leaf litter. They much prefer damp weather, and in climates with more moisture they like to hang out on the tips of branches or blades of grass along trails, like hitch hikers. As unsuspecting humans or animals brush up against foliage on these trails, the ticks can cling to clothing or fur, and then after exploring their new host for almost 24 hours, they find a comfortable place to attach themselves and begin feeding. They are miniature vampires, literally sucking the blood of their host, and if undetected they will remain on a host for up to 5 days.
Understanding all of this, it's easy to see how it could be possible to miss a tick. I don't remember ever having been bitten, but I've spent enough time outdoors (both in the Pacific Northwest and New England) to easily have been exposed to ticks carrying Lyme.
