Wildlife of Henry W. Coe State Park
Banana Slug · Blackfly Larvae · California Sister · Checkerspot · Common Buckeye · Convergent Lady Beetle · Crab Spider · Darkling Beetle · Hairy Mygalomorph · Lorquin's Admiral · Milkweed Bug · Monarch · Termites · Tick · Two-tailed Swallowtail · Variable Checkerspot
Tick
Crawling on a canvas bag at backpack camp below Tule Pond.
7 May 2005.
Photograph copyright © Lee Dittmann.
Note how this tick has eight legs like other arachnids; it's a distant relation of spiders.
Actual size of this beauty was about 4 to 5 mm long. It is one of several species
of ticks inhabiting the park.
Ticks are one of the most hazardous animals in the park; while stealthily piercing
you and sucking your blood, diseases can be transmitted. The most serious in
the area is probably Lyme disease, which if untreated can lead to a debilitating
arthritic condition after a few years. Only a very small percentage of the ticks in
the area are carriers, though, and if ticks are removed within a few hours of boring
into you, there is little chance of getting Lyme disease. (The point bitten is essentially
a puncture wound, however, and can be an entrance point for infective agents like
any other puncture wound.)
See the song "Thank a Lizard" on the Coe Songs page for more information on why
so few ticks in the Western US carry Lyme disease.
Henry W. Coe State Park, California
An unofficial website created by Lee Dittmann
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