This tick has become very popular but not for its characteristics as much as the fear created back in the 70’s when it was discovered that they were the primary (and possibly only) transmitters of Lyme disease.  Its original preferred host was a white-tailed deer; however now we learned this tick will seek larger hosts, including the deer, dogs, and humans and they were known for exclusively feeding only on animal blood; this is no longer the case. They can and do contract the bacteria that cause Lyme disease; this happens during a feeding from an infected host such as rodents. They must remain attached for at least 24 hours for the bacteria to transmit. We now know in addition to spreading the bacteria for diseases like Lyme disease it has the ability to spread bacteria to people by tick bites primarily.