The pups and I spend a great deal of time outdoors, often bushwhacking through thickets and forest understory (good fun!).  Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), the carriers of Lyme disease and other fun things, are our constant companions in these environments, giving me the dubious opportunity to become very familiar with their life cycle.  Overwintering adults that emerged in the spring recently laid eggs (after the females had a blood meal) and now the larval ticks are hatching.  The good news is that adult ticks can’t pass infections on to their offspring, so larval ticks are not disease vectors.  The bad news is that they are small enough to be sneaky and a bit creepy.  Here’s one that attached to Luc’s eyelid for a blood meal: