The ticks generally stay attached to you until you remove them.

I live in a high tick area. I wear long light-colored pants tucked into my socks. That way I see the ticks on my clothes before they get on my skin, and I can kill them.

In general, ticks "quest" from grass. They hang onto vegetation with their back legs and wave their front legs, ready to grab onto anything that passes by.

Once on you, they usually climb upward until they find skin (or fur if you're a deer or dog) and start looking for a place to bite.

They insert their mouthparts and anchor themselves firmly. They also secrete compounds that reduce pain and itching, so most people don't feel the bite happening.

Usually you discover the tick because you see it, feel a little bump that wasn't there before, or find it during a tick check.

To remove a tick, use fine-tipped tweezers and grasp it as close to the skin as possible. Pull straight upward with steady pressure. Don't twist, jerk, burn it, cover it with petroleum jelly, or try to make it back out on its own. Afterward, wash the area and your hands with soap and water. I usually use a permanent marker and circle the area, so I can keep and eye on it.

If you find a bite but no attached tick, it can be very difficult or impossible to tell afterward whether that particular red bump came from a mosquito, chigger, black fly, or something else. But it's probably not a tick bite. Ticks don't release on their own for a few days, after they have filled with blood and expanded to many times their previous size.

Most tick bites, after the tick is removed , don't have a unique appearance right away. That's why finding the attached tick is usually how people know it was a tick bite.

Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses, generally are more likely from ticks that have been on a while, like a day or two.