Self-Cloning Asian Longhorned Ticks Found in Kentucky

My grades in high school biology left, ahem, a lot to desired. I just could never wrap my brain around zygotes and endospores. So it will take a MUCH smarter human than I to understand how a creature can self-clone.

And this brings us to the lovely and talented Asian longhorned tick, which...wait for it...CAN self-clone.

Up front, I can't stand ticks. Just the thought sends shivers up my back. And, why not, they can do a great deal of damage.

But ticks that can reproduce without mating are a whole other level of tickdom. And needless to say, we have enough varieties of ticks without adding this one to the mix.

So far, according to Kentucky.com, these little pests have only been found in three counties in the Commonwealth--Martin and Floyd in eastern Kentucky and Metcalfe in south central Kentucky.

Metcalfe County is only about 130 miles from Owensboro and that's where the report came in of a bull that was infested with a large number of Asian longhorned ticks.

Experts at the University of Kentucky say that these ticks are attracted to just about every type of animal we have around here.

The good news, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is that they seem to be less attracted to human skin.

That's fine. We have enough to deal with.