A Bloody History of Tick Bites

A New York artist pulled 389 ticks off her body in 14 years and created a visual accounting of the growing tick problem in the U.S.

Bonnie Hoag loves nature. As the director of Dionondehowa Wildlife Sanctuary and School in Shushan, New York, she spends a lot of time outdoors—mostly hiking, birding, and gathering river stones for her artistic creations. But over the years, she noticed a spike in local tick populations, and in 2003, she almost died of neurological Lyme disease.

“I was blindsided. Having grown up in eastern New York State, ticks that could kill you were unknown. The family dog would get a tick, yes, but what were these deadly new-ticks-on-the-block?”

To document the problem, she began taping the ticks found on her body onto the back of old check registers. Today, she’s agreed to share her “ledger of the bitten” (posted below) to remind everyone to do tick checks.

Bonnie’s visual history is creepy, funny, and educational. In some cases, dried blood oozes out of the ticks pinned under the tape. She notes the places where the ticks were found on her body. Occasionally, she jots down profanities when she pulls out bloated ticks and has to receive treatment for repeated cases of Lyme disease and babesiosis.

The critical takeaway here is that tick bites are a growing threat to Americans. Record numbers of tick bites have been observed in New York (2024), Maine (2024), and Wisconsin (2023). The vicious Lone Star tick, previously limited to the southern U.S., is creeping northwards, spreading new diseases and the alpha gal red meat allergy. Yet, research into prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of tick-borne diseases is underfunded compared to less prevalent diseases like malaria and West Nile virus. And no one (other than myself) seems to be seriously investigating why three highly virulent new tick-borne diseases suddenly appeared around the mouth of the Connecticut River in the late 1960s.

As we begin a public health regime change, Americans should demand that the new administration and Congress recalibrate research budgets to better address the growing threat of tick-borne diseases. (Supporting The Center for Lyme Action is a good start.)

Tables courtesy of Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

Photos courtesy of Bonnie Hoag.

BONNIE HOAG’s VISUAL HISTORY OF TICK ENCOUNTERS

The latest tick count from Bonnie Hoag:
2023: 22 ticks, 4/19 – 11/17
2024: 30 ticks, 3/31 – 11/7

The Dionondehowa Wildlife Sanctuary, looking across the Battenkill Valley to the Taconic Mountains of Vermont.

Kris Newby is an award-winning medical science writer and the senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary UNDER OUR SKIN. Her book BITTEN: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons won three international book awards for journalism and narrative nonfiction. Previously, Newby worked for Stanford Medical School, Apple, and other Silicon Valley companies.

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