# Ticks - how do they work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162 "2013-04-08T16:13:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/1 "2013-04-08T16:13:59Z")
I pulled a big tick off my dog this morning; it may have been the biggest I’ve ever pulled off her. It got me wondering - does a tick ever get “full?” If so, what happens - does it let go and drop off? Does it keep on sucking until it bursts? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/2 "2013-04-08T16:28:17Z")
They get full, drop off and then turn all that blood into eggs, which they then lay. When they hatch, you have thousands of little ticklets - isn’t that great! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/3 "2013-04-08T16:43:32Z")
they can get really huge before dropping. the mother of all engorgements. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/4 "2013-04-08T17:01:43Z")
Let me guess–you posted here because you don’t wanna talk to a veterinarian? You think all those motherfuckers are lying, and getting you pissed? That’s insane. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/5 "2013-04-08T17:12:30Z")
Ticks are amazing. Tho I have only vague recollections of the books I’ve read on them (you may check out your library) they need only eat once a year or so, and spend amazing time just hanging out waiting for something warm-blooded to pass by. Should be pretty easy to find the underlying mechanisms telling it - or a mosquito - when to stop sucking. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/6 "2013-04-08T17:17:16Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Let me guess–you posted here because you don’t wanna talk to a veterinarian? You think all those motherfuckers are lying, and getting you pissed? That’s insane. If you don’t mind my asking (and even if you do), what the hell are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/7 "2013-04-08T17:40:40Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > If you don’t mind my asking (and even if you do), what the hell are you talking about? Whoops–meant to link the “[insane](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fucking-magnets-how-do-they-work)” part. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/8 "2013-04-08T19:46:51Z")
Funny enough, “fail” is also an internet meme.😃 ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/9 "2013-04-08T20:27:31Z")
A friend of mine was studying ticks, particularly ticks on kangaroos. In order to collect ticks in the wild, she’d take a big white bedsheet, lay it out on the ground, and put a little chunk of dry ice in the centre. 30 minutes later, if there were any ticks around, they’d be on the sheet, heading towards the CO2. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/10 "2013-04-08T21:00:14Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > 30 minutes later, if there were any ticks around, they’d be on the sheet, heading towards the CO2. How did your friend know that? I mean, if one tick was on the sheet, couldn’t there be hundreds around who didn’t give a damn? ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/11 "2013-04-08T21:19:48Z")
That’s the thing - they HAVE to give a damn. Their life depends on it. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/12 "2013-04-08T22:09:05Z")
> [@Wakinyan](#): > > How did your friend know that? I mean, if one tick was on the sheet, couldn’t there be hundreds around who didn’t give a damn? I’m assuming that ticks somehow sense CO[sub]2[/sub] levels and instinctually gravitate to the area with the highest level and then bite the nearest fleshy thing. Any ticks that ignore the presence of CO[sub]2[/sub] won’t ever harvest blood to eggify and pass on their laconic tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![auntlohimein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/74df32/32.png) [@auntlohimein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntlohimein)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/13 "2013-04-08T23:04:49Z")
So are they what makes my carbon dioxide or monoxide detector function,? i’ve replaced the 9v battery a couple of times butt never the ticks. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/14 "2013-04-09T10:29:09Z")
Ticks can get to be quite ‘humongous’. When I was just a wee lad, I remember playing with my uncles penned up dogs that he used for hunting. In the summer time, they would acquire ticks that swelled up to the size of a small grape. (about 3/8" - 1/2" dia.) :eek: At the time, I thought it great fun to watch him ‘dip’ them to get rid of fleas and ticks. This consisted of a 55 gal. barrel filled about 3/4 full of ‘sheep dip’. My uncle would take each dog and pick it up and dump it into the barrel head first, then literally jump back a couple of feet. The reason being, when that dog came out of the barrel it would be in a big hurry and there was no telling which direction he would go. The reason that I thought it was so funny was because the dogs then spent the next five or ten minutes frantically rolling around and rubbing themselves on the ground. In hind sight, I now know that the ‘dip’ was a very strong insecticide and was causing the dogs considerable misery due to the fact that it was probably burning their eyes and the soft tissues of the nose and mouth. ☹ It did a fine job of getting rid of their ticks and fleas, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/15 "2013-04-09T10:40:29Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m assuming that ticks somehow sense CO[sub]2[/sub] levels and instinctually gravitate to the area with the highest level and then bite the nearest fleshy thing. Any ticks that ignore the presence of CO[sub]2[/sub] won’t ever harvest blood to eggify and pass on their laconic tendencies. I see. Clever little bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/16 "2013-04-09T19:56:10Z")
I’ve seen on Youtube they use co2 for bed bug detection. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/17 "2013-04-09T20:29:20Z")
If you are out golfing and hit one wide into tall grass you’re best off taking a drop. Walking in tall grass is asking for it. Just about all of us have had ticks climbing on us somewhere and one guy got Lyme’s disease. Took a year to get over it. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ticks-how-do-they-work/655162/18 "2013-04-10T00:51:46Z")
What percentage of these little bastards sit around their entire lives never finding something to latch onto? I’ve been doing a lot of wandering in the woods and trails and they are everywhere, in areas that might never see a living creature besides me or my dog. My dog was treated with Fontline, the duration is coming to an end, I’m going to move to Advantix as Frontline requires they actually bite him to have an effect so he’s still been picking up hijackers to bring into the house. I want Advantix for humans.