Ixodes Pacificus

They are out early this year with our warm weather.  Check yourself and your animals often.  If one bites, gently pull slowly out with tweezers (let the tick back out) and don’t twist it.  You want the head and mouth parts to still be attached when the little sucker lets go.

TIVFD 

“The Western Black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus) is very common during the spring and early summer. It occurs on vegetation in warm, moist areas on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and along the mainland coast between the United States border and Powell River. Its eastward range extends along the Fraser River to Yale and north to Boston Bar. 

The red and black females and smaller black males attach to humans, deer, cats and dogs, becoming grey and bean-like in size as they feed. The bite is often painful and may result in a slow-healing ulcer. This tick does not cause paralysis; however, it is a carrier of the microorganism responsible for Lyme disease in North America. The organism which causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, has been found in ticks collected from many areas of B.C., and health authorities now believe that Lyme Disease carrying ticks may be present throughout the province.” Government of BC