Ticks are blood-sucking arthropods that can transmit a wide variety of diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF), tularemia, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis.

Ticks are not considered a public health problem in the Coachella Valley, as there is little evidence of tick activity within our boundaries. While ticks are not considered native to the Coachella Valley, they are sometimes brought into the area via humans or animals that have traveled outside the Valley and unwittingly come home with uninvited guests attached to clothing or directly on their bodies.

Tick Environment and Behavior

• Ticks can be found most commonly in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, especially along sides of trails.

• Ticks do not fly, jump, or fall out of trees! Ticks wait on tips of grasses and leaves for people or other animals to pass by. When a tick grabs onto a passing animal, it will then crawl in search of a good place to attach to the skin.

• Once attached, the tick will secrete a cement-like substance that helps it stay in place to feed.

• The longer the tick stays attached, the higher the risk of disease transmission to the animal to which it is attached.

• A feeding tick can remain attached for many hours or days.