How do ticks attach?
Ticks have sharp mouth parts rather like tiny crab claws. Ticks begin feeding by secreting a numbing chemical so the host doesn’t feel their hard, stabbing mouth parts pierce the skin. The rest, however, is nasty. The mouth parts are barbed so the pet can’t scratch or rub to dislodge the tick. A hungry tick is flat, like a freckle, but it has an elastic abdomen so a female can suck up a hundred times its own body weight in blood. Then, the female lays several hundred eggs before she shrivels up and dies. When she dies, she leaves behind the carapace, or outer covering and 8 legs.
