100 Species #62: American dog tick.
This adult male American dog tick Dermacentor variablis came into the yard on one of our dogs. We have picked several off of both dogs this year.
American dog ticks overwinter in the soil and emerge in Massachusetts in April, looking for a mammal to feed on. Dog owners often express relief when they find a dog tick--at least it wasn't a deer tick! Dog ticks don't carry the organism that cause Lyme disease, though they do carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. They are also much larger than deer ticks and therefore easier to find. Dog tick (also called wood ticks) can live on almost any medium-sized to large mammal, and must feed on three different hosts as they grow to adulthood.
This is our preferred tool to remove attached ticks: http://www.tickinfo.com/protickremedy.htm
The American dog tick appeared in this blog before as #365 Urban Species #146.