Tick Tock

Some time ago, when I had to scrounge for photos and beg permission to use them, I was rebuffed by some wildlife photographers who said that there are no ugly animals. That all of nature was beautiful, and therefore I could not post their photos on a site called Ugly Overload. I would respond by saying that my site isn't a freak show; it is but one humble attempt to restore balance to the blogosphere. After one such rebuke, when a photographer wouldn't let me post on his hamadryas baboon, I posted on a tapeworm to prove that nature could be ugly.

The tick is still more proof. So I revel in posting on it.

There are many varieties of ticks. All of them suck blood from their hosts. They can't fly or jump. They only scamper and drop--and they do so for blood. How do they know where to find their prey? They seek out heat and/or carbon dioxide.

I actually have a fond memory of ticks. When I was a lad I had captured a skink and placed it in a spare terrarium. For about a week I mistook the black orbs nestled against the skink's ears as some sort of skink ear decoration. But then I realized that those orbs were ticks. With one hand I held the skink secure, and with the other I pressed a just-blown-out match tip to the ticks. One by one, they released their grip and fell to the countertop and began scampering away. But they met a swift end beneath my thumb (a bloody end, as it turned out). I then released the skink in the same place I had found him. For once, a reptile left a boy's care better for the experience. See? How's that for improving reptile-human relations?

Thanks for the photo, Booge (I'm still scratching myself).