Hello beautiful world!

Deep within the forest, breaking through the fallen leaves, a new life has entered the world.

"HELLO, BEAUTIFUL WORLD!" Tilly shouted. 

Tilly was an ambitious blacklegged tick. She is also known as Ixodes Scapularis. She had 6 little black legs to take her around. Are you ready to learn about her adventure?

Okay let us get started, but first before she leaves her home she needs to eat!

what a beautiful bird!

One early warm spring morning, Tilly climbed up a tree and crawled onto a leaf. She waited and waited until suddenly a feathered friend flew down. 

"What a beautiful bird!" Tilly said.

As the bird was done resting on the branch, he flew up and pushed Tilly. Before Tilly could fall off the leaf, she quickly held onto the birds feathers with her tiny legs. 

She did it! Her first host is the bird. A host is an animal that a tick attaches to for food. A tick's favourite meal is blood. As she enjoys her food we will learn more about her adventure.

I wonder where we are going?

The bird stretched his wings and flew up racing. SWOOSH, Tilly closed her eyes and held on as tightly as she could. 

When she finally opened her eyes she could see the trees, rivers, and her home getting smaller and smaller. 

"I wonder where we are going?" Tilly questioned.

The bird was heading north towards Canada now taking a friend for the journey. Bird's can sometimes help blacklegged ticks travel very long distances. Tilly did not know she could travel so far.   

Perfect! Home sweet home. 

After a few long days of flying, the bird found a comfortable spot to rest. 

"Whoof, am I stuffed!" Tilly said happily. 

Tilly was full of blood she had eaten and was ready to explore. She aimed for an area with soft leaves to jump. PLOP! She lucky landed safely. 

"Perfect!" She said. 

Tilly looked around her new environment.

"Home sweet home," she said excitedly.

The forest was a perfect place for Tilly. It gave her shelter, and a moist, cold environment she likes.  

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight?

Tilly began making her new home and became comfortable. As time had passed, Tilly started to feel different. Tilly was changing in a process called moulting. She broke and shed out of her old skin. When she emerged, she felt different. 

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight?" Tilly thought.

Tilly was growing up. She is now called a nymph, which is a young tick that has eight legs. 

Squeak Squeak

Now that Tilly has emerged as a nymph, she is hungry again. Tilly has to find a blade of grass to climb onto and wait with a few legs stretched out. As Tilly was waiting for an animal to pass by, she heard leaves moving. 

"Squeak Squeak," a friendly mouse ran through the leaves. 

Tilly stretched out and managed to get on the mouse. As Tilly bit down to enjoy her next meal, there was something she nor the mouse knew. It is very small and something they could not see, but it was inside the mouse.  

This tastes funny?

Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterium that lived inside the mouse. As Tilly was enjoying her food, some of the bacteria slipped into her body. 

"This tastes funny?" Tilly said confused.

She could not see or feel the bacteria. They are too small for that. This is known as microscopic and the only way to see them is with a microscope. 

Tilly did not know, but she was now infected with the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. 

After Tilly was done eating, she let go and dropped back onto the leaves. As more time passed, Tilly began to moult again. 

This time she became a beautiful adult blacklegged tick. She did not however shed the bacteria like she did her skin. Even though Tilly changed so much, the bacteria never changed or left her body.