Collecting Ticks

Collecting ticks in desert tortoise habitat can be a challenge! Regardless of the heat and incessant biting gnats that flourish during the rainy season, these ticks are challenging to find because when they aren't grabbing a meal from a tortoise or other desert animal they like to hangout deep in burrows.

Here I am using a modified Co2 trap that directs Co2 from dry ice into burrows using a flexible plastic hose. The Co2 sublimating from the dry ice mimics Co2 that is emitted from an animal, or a potential meal. These ticks are drawn to the gas and wander in to my Co2 trap, where they get trapped in a small container with a funnel, that prevents them from escaping. ...the joys of field work!