Adult Rocky Mountain wood ticks are active during March-July.

Peak tick numbers occur from mid-April to late May.

In Poudre Canyon, host-seeking Rocky Mountain wood ticks are encountered in:

1. Open, south-facing areas with mixed grass-brush-trees at higher elevations (primarily above 7,000 ft).
2. Sheltered habitats, such as along north-facing creeks, at lower elevations (especially below 7,200 ft).

South-facing open habitat		North-facing sheltered habitat Photo by Sam Cox, Landscape Imagery Nature Photography
From: Eisen, Meyer and Eisen. 2007. Climate-based model predicting acarological risk of encountering the human-biting adult life stage of Dermacentor andersoni (Acari: Ixodidae) in a key habitat type in Colorado. Journal of Medical Entomology 44: 694-704.

In Poudre Canyon, Rocky Mountain wood ticks are commonly encountered in areas where big sagebrush is abundant (6,900-8,200 ft) but not in areas where this brush is lacking (below 6,900 ft).

The reason why big sagebrush is an indicator of elevated risk for exposure to Rocky Mountain wood ticks is probably a shared climate tolerance of the tick and this brush species. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) © 2007 Thomas Stoughton

From: Eisen, Ibarra-Juarez, Eisen and Piesman. 2008. Indicators for elevated risk of human exposure to host-seeking adults of the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni) in Colorado. Journal of Vector Ecology: 117-128.