Most people do not feel a tick biting nor the subsequent drawing of blood it needs for nourishment. If left undisturbed, the tick will remain attached to its host and become engorged with blood over the next 2-4 days, eventually dropping off. If the Ixodes tick happens to be a carrier of the Borrelia spirochetes, it may transmit them to the host during this feeding process. Once in your body, the spirochetes can multiply. Not all ticks carry the spirochete, and a bite does not always result in the development of Lyme Disease -- even if the tick is a carrier.

Photo: G. Fergione