Deer Tick

You're welcome. Another helpful way to distinguish is size - deer ticks are smaller than dog ticks. Adult deer ticks are sesame seed size (as small as 2mm), while an adult dog tick would be 3.5-5mm.

Thanks Christine. I thought it could go either way because my friend had his dog with him when we went on a walk through the tick-filled woods but after reading your assessment I think I will go with Deer Tick. I don't have any more photos because we didn't want it to bite him.

Not much to worry about with this tick because it's a male. They may bite, but don't become engorged and aren't know to transmit disease. Do you have any other shots of it? It looks more like a male Deer Tick because it appears to have a longer capitulum (mouthparts) than Dermacentor ticks. Also, I can't see a pattern on the scutum, which Dermacentor ticks have (but, with lots of variation). The last thing is that there doesn't appear to be festoons on the back margin of the tick (Dermacentor ticks have these grooves, but Ixodes ticks do not). These features may just be hard to distinguish in this photo though, so I can't be 100% sure...

This looks like an American Dog Tick