Tick Education at Mt. Agamenticus

Mt. Agamenticus is the stand alone mountain that you see on your left when you drive into Maine from points south.  It is near I-95 and a convenient place to stop and stretch your legs on a long journey.  The park offers miles of hiking trails and an one mile handicapped accessible trail at the summit. 

Usually there are very good views from the summit; however, today there was a light rain and heavy fog.  My son and I walked on the gravel handicapped accessible trail and since there were limited views, we instead focused on the plant life around us.  That is when we realized that the area was densely populated with dog ticks.  We observed more than 20 ticks in a 50 yard section of trail before deciding that we had stretched our legs sufficiently and decided to leave.

We've since learned that ticks frequently come out after it rains. 

Here is a trail map from today.  The last portion before we turned back was where we discovered the ticks. 

There is an education center at the summit.  It was closed today.  

On the leaf in the center of this photo is one of the many ticks we observed today.