I spent the first 13 years of my life living in East Weissport. To me it was a nature dream.

Tar Run, a small stream that feeds the Phifer Ice Dams, coursed through my yard before emptying into the Lehigh Canal. It hosted creek chubs, some suckers, a few pumpkinseed sunfish, and every now and then a trout.

Its stream banks held some muskrats, a bunch of bullfrogs and northern water snakes feeding on those chubs and frogs.

Even better, down the street was a woodlot about 5 acres in size. Bordering our backyard was a pasture that sometimes held a few sheep and a pony or two. These were all ideal places for this nature nerd to explore.

I was either exploring the stream banks or trekking around that woodlot. Never once, not one time, did I ever have a tick on me. Add in that my father, to supplement our income, started a small Christmas tree farm in Franklin Township.

From the time I was big enough to help there, I mowed grass, pulled weeds from around the transplants, helped shear the trees, etc. In fall, I followed Dad around as he and Wayne hunted rabbits there. Never did any of us find any ticks. In 1980, while in a neighbor’s car, I found a dog tick crawling on his seat. That was the first one I ever found.

Fast forward to the present. I’m now the older version of that nature kid. Birding every spring and summer occupies much of my spare time. I hike or trudge through weedy fields, marshy areas along the Blue Mountain, or various locations on the edge of the Poconos. I don’t think there is one outing that I didn’t find at least one tick clinging to my clothing; usually many. Obviously, something has changed and they are apparently here to stay.

Here’s a little information on one of few nature “critters” I don’t like.

Ticks belong to Class Arachnida. The same group as spiders and mites. They have two body regions, not three like insects. Those parts are the cephalothorax and abdomen. Adult ticks have eight legs attached to the cephalothorax. They insert their hypostome (mouth part) into their host, inject saliva containing anticoagulants to keep the blood from clotting as they feed, and, depending on the species, feed for a few hours or a few days.

It is that blood meal that creates the possibility of pathogens of Lyme disease or others to be passed on to you. As a larva and nymph, ticks need a blood meal to change into an adult. An adult female needs a blood meal to produce eggs. Adult male ticks, unlike male mosquitoes, do feed on blood and need that to grow and mature sexually.

Surprisingly, there have been 25 species of ticks identified in Pennsylvania. However, four are the most common: black-legged tick (deer tick); American dog tick; Lone Star tick; and groundhog tick, which seldom attaches to humans.

The smallest of these four is the black-legged tick, about the size of a sesame seed. From experience, I can verify that they are very hard to notice when on you or your clothing. I hope a few of the following photos will help you identify two of these. Hint: With spring just around the corner and you are out there, birding like me, check your clothing before heading indoors. Tick activity will begin shortly.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Which of these factors have led to the increase in the number of ticks in Pennsylvania? A. Milder winter temperatures; B. Climate change; C. Increased white-tailed deer numbers; D. Forest fragmentation; E. None of these; F. All of these.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The barred owl was primarily a Southern species but has been expanding its range north and westward. They can be found, and heard, here in our region.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com