Tick

Ticks are creatures found across the regions of Appalachia.

Biology
Following the Great War, these ticks mutated from the Ixodes scapularis or deer tick or black-legged tick, though they have become considerably larger then their non-mutated counterparts. They have eight legs (four on each side), and they are made of two distinct parts, including the head and the abdomen. The abdomen is capable of swelling to enormous proportions after blood has been ingested.

Gameplay attributes
Despite their small size, they can be relatively dangerous early in the game when encountered in groups. Ticks can be very difficult to see in certain environments, however, they do emit a unique scatter-like sound when moving. Similarly to other smaller mutated insects, some ticks may hide in the soil or under structures, they will jump out when in close proximity to the player character.

Ticks are very fast for their size, and will easily catch up to the player character if seen, they use their claws to attack, and when they successfully do this enough, their blood sacs will fill with blood. If the player character manages to kill the tick while in this state, their sacs will explode, rendering them unable to be looted for tick blood and tick blood sacs. Diseased ticks also have a chance to give the parasites disease. Once their blood sacs are full of blood, they can spray it back at their victim to cause radiation damage for several seconds.

Tick
The standard variant, with the attributes mentioned above.

Foul tick
The second weakest variant. It is a sickly white all over.

Wretched tick
The second strongest variant. It is a dark black and red color, with a pattern on the abdomen that is reminiscent of a skull.

Vile tick
The most dangerous variant. Its abdomen glows a bright orange.

Glowing tick
On par with the vile tick in raw power, this is a tick that has absorbed so much radiation it has become phosphorescent.

Scorched tick
A charred, fleshy tick infected with the Scorched Plague. All regular tick variants have a corresponding Scorched variant with the same stats, abilities, and items. They may become Scorched when attacked by scorchbeasts or the scorchbeast queen, becoming allies with other Scorched creatures.

Locations

 * Eight reliably found at an unmarked shack west of Big B's Rest Stop.
 * Four reliably found at Moonshiner's shack.
 * Four reliably found at Lake Eloise.
 * Three reliably found at Spruce Knob Campground.
 * Reliably found at Gilman lumber mill.
 * Reliably found at Dolly Sods Wilderness.
 * Chance to be found at Point Pleasant.
 * Chance to be found at Kerwood Mine.
 * Chance to be found at Gorge junkyard.
 * Chance to be found near Hunter's shack, just east of the abandoned bunker.
 * Chance to be found near Kanawha County Cemetery.

Appearances
Ticks appear only in Fallout 76 and are mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
The mutated tick is based on the real world Ixodes scapularis deer tick, found commonly in North America.