Ticks can vary in appearance depending on the type. There are two groups of ticks: "hard" and "soft" ticks, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health Prevention and Control.

View Full Profile. Learn about our Editorial Policies. Astealthy quest is afoot in the forests of the Netherlands. Sitting atop a blade of grass, biding time till its next blood meal, is a hard tick.

This is crucial because the risk of disease increases the longer a tick remains attached to the host. Cases of Lyme disease ...