- "I've been here before" ...Purple Emp ...hairstreak
- Those ticks are obviously not fussy on who they feed
Any views out there?
even the cold blodded cannot escape 'the scourge'
even the cold blodded cannot escape 'the scourge'
During PE season the observation tower in Straits Inclosure seems to be used exclusively as a perch point by his majesty. Therefore it was nice to see this little chap (or more likely, chappess) getting in on the act.
Closer inspection reveals she is not alone And I always thought ticks only attached themselves to warm-blooded creatures. Thereagain I've never encountered ticks until this year: now I've seen 5 (4 on my person) in four different locations (Wreccesham; White-cross green wood; Bentley Wood/Martin Down and Straits (Alice Holt)) On my laymans observation I would say this is a bad year for them?
Any views out there?
Closer inspection reveals she is not alone And I always thought ticks only attached themselves to warm-blooded creatures. Thereagain I've never encountered ticks until this year: now I've seen 5 (4 on my person) in four different locations (Wreccesham; White-cross green wood; Bentley Wood/Martin Down and Straits (Alice Holt)) On my laymans observation I would say this is a bad year for them?
Any views out there?
Re: even the cold blodded cannot escape 'the scourge'
Yeah...ticks suck!! (D'ya see what I did there?Philzoid wrote:Any views out there?
)Raising £10,000 for Butterfly Conservation by WALKING 1200 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats!!!
See http://www.justgiving.com/epicbutterflywalk or look up Epic Butterfly Walk on Facebook.
See http://www.justgiving.com/epicbutterflywalk or look up Epic Butterfly Walk on Facebook.
Re: even the cold blodded cannot escape 'the scourge'
That is a wicked photo in both meanings of the word! And a very good/bad joke from Gibster - I told it to my daughter but then had to explain what a Tick was - so it kinda lost the punchline 
I also thought that Ticks sort of hung onto the tops of grasses and waited for warm blooded organisms to dine on. I remember seeing a David Attenborough programme that actually showed this happening from a Ticks "eye" view. All I can think of is that perhaps having basked for a suitable period the lizards blood was warm enough for the Tick to be stimulated to attach itself (there is a mountain lizard in Peru that can raise it's body temperature to 20 degress above air temp). Either that or it could have got to the stage where deperation has set in?
What I find is more amazing is that it's managed to attach itself though the tough scaly skin of the lizard, I certainly wouldn't want to meet this individual!
Have a goodun
Wurzel
I also thought that Ticks sort of hung onto the tops of grasses and waited for warm blooded organisms to dine on. I remember seeing a David Attenborough programme that actually showed this happening from a Ticks "eye" view. All I can think of is that perhaps having basked for a suitable period the lizards blood was warm enough for the Tick to be stimulated to attach itself (there is a mountain lizard in Peru that can raise it's body temperature to 20 degress above air temp). Either that or it could have got to the stage where deperation has set in?
What I find is more amazing is that it's managed to attach itself though the tough scaly skin of the lizard, I certainly wouldn't want to meet this individual!
Have a goodun
Wurzel