CONDON, Mont. — Biologist Grant Hokit has come to this small meadow in the mountains outside Condon to look for ticks. A hiking path crosses the expanse of long grasses and berry bushes.

As Hokit walks the path, he carries a handmade tool made out of plastic pipes taped together that hold a large rectangle of white flannel cloth.

He jokes that this device is "sophisticated," but the scientific survey is quite serious: He's sweeping the cloth over the shrubs and grass, hoping that "questing" ticks will latch on.

Along the summer trail, ticks dangle from blades of grass, sticking their legs out and waiting for a passing mammal.

"We got one," Hokit says. "So that came off of this sedge grass right here… simply pick them off with our fingers. We've got a vial that we pop them in."

Any

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