What habitat has the highest likelihood of being infested with ticks?

• A. Open lawn with short grass
• B. Forest canopy
• C. Thick low shrubs, tall ground covers, and tall grass
• D. Water edge with reeds

Answer: (C)

Ticks are most likely to be found in moist, sheltered ground-level vegetation where they can easily latch onto passing hosts. Dense low shrubs, tall ground covers, and tall grass create a humid microhabitat and provide a ready platform for questing, making this environment the prime spot for tick presence. An open lawn with short grass is exposed to sun and dries out quickly, offering fewer favorable conditions for ticks. The forest canopy sits above ground level; while some ticks are found in forests, their life stages that quest for hosts are most successful in ground-level vegetation, not the canopy. A water edge with reeds can be damp, but the vegetation is typically less dense at the height where ticks wait, so encounters are less frequent than in thick ground cover. So, the habitat with thick, tall ground cover around shrubs and grasses has the highest likelihood of infestation.