Ticks: What’s their purpose?

By GrowingDeer,

  Filed under: Hunting Blog

I was recently was asked, “What was the Creator thinking when He created ticks?”

I’ve often wondered this myself. Tick populations are increasing in the USA. Before European settlement there were large (75 mile wide) fires (either started by natural events or Native Americans) based on early explorer records. These fires likely significantly reduced tick populations (based on burning large cattle pastures in Oklahoma). These days a large prescribed fire in most places is 100 acres or less. As soon as vegetation grows in these areas deer and other herbivores forage there and ticks of various maturing stages drop of these critters. so the area is repopulated with ticks rapidly.

After a lot of thought and conversations with folks much smarter than me, I believe ticks were created to remove weak or diseased critters and their populations were kept in check by large wildfires. This is a theory based on what’s known and what I believe, as a biologist, seems plausible.

Enjoy Creation!

Grant