A team of researchers made a shocking discovery about where ticks are living. The tiny parasites, which can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, were thought to mostly live in wooded areas, but researchers were surprised when they found large numbers of them living near beaches in northern California.
"We went into new habitats and found them in numbers we didn't expect," the study's lead author Daniel Salkeld, a research scientist at Colorado State University, told NBC News. "A few years ago, I would have said the ticks there wouldn't have been infected because there aren't any grey squirrels, which are the source for Lyme in California."
Of all the ticks they found near the beach, 4.1% had Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme, compared to just 3.9% of the ticks found in wooded areas. The ticks were mainly hiding in grassy areas near the shoreline.
Salkeld said that it's likely the ticks have always been there, but nobody bothered to look because most people associate them with heavily wooded areas.
"I think they've been under our noses all along," Salkeld said. "We just haven't thought to look very closely."
The researchers are still trying to figure out how the ticks were infected with the bacterium but believe the source was likely rabbits or voles.
He said that the ticks are not a year-long problem and only show up during the rainy season.
Photo: Getty Images