Can anyone explain why ticks exist if they’re so terrible?

[RustyPine17]

I've been hiking and camping a lot lately, and it seems like ticks are everywhere. Are they just nature's little nuisances, or do they actually serve any purpose? I'm curious if anyone knows if there's anything good about ticks?

 

[22250imp]

Good for the repellant sales!!!!!

 

[oldcorps76]

Same reason as demons.

 

[Dun]

Google is our friend. Quite a lot of info if ya google "ticks". I did and was surprised at the amount of info!

 

[oldcorps76]

Something must eat them.

Funny, I have lived here 29 year and have never seen a tick. - one of the reasons I like it here despite the degenerating political scene. Use to be covered with them when I lived in west-central Missouri, an otherwise pleasant place to live. The dogs, and ticks? You don't wanna know. Ugh.

Maybe they came from California....

 

[Dun]

Google is our friend. Quite a lot of info if ya google "ticks". I did and was surprised at the amount of info!

"According to fossil records, Ixodidae—the order today’s hard ticks belong to—emerged during the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago. (So yes, they likely fed on feathered dinosaurs.)
And while ticks are arachnids, that doesn’t make them spiders. Sure, they have eight legs like their spider cousins, but their biology, behavior and ecological roles are quite different."
(Information courtesy of University of Florida website)

 

[oldcorps76]

Google is our friend. Quite a lot of info if ya google "ticks". I did and was surprised at the amount of info!

"According to fossil records, Ixodidae—the order today’s hard ticks belong to—emerged during the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago. (So yes, they likely fed on feathered dinosaurs.)
And while ticks are arachnids, that doesn’t make them spiders. Sure, they have eight legs like their spider cousins, but their biology, behavior and ecological roles are quite different."
(Information courtesy of University of Florida website)

And they're good eatin' with melted butter. Like crawdads, you just have to have a lot of them to make a meal.