However, given the success of ticks as a group of animals it is obvious that jumping has not been necessary. They detect their food source by the combination of heat and carbon dioxide as well as movement, and they are very sensitive to vibrations that indicate an animal nearby. Mature ticks climb up onto vegetation to await the passing animal, and once they feel something nearby they raise their front legs into the air in a position referred to as "questing", ready to latch onto any animal that brushes against them as it moves past. This animal, of course, could also be humans. Ticks also can live for many months without feeding, so patience is another trick in their bag that ensures their survival until food comes along. 

Let's feel at least somewhat fortunate that all we have to put up with in this country is ticks and our other parasites. In the rain forests of southern Asia there are land leeches that behave much as our ticks do. They live on land and foliage and manage to squirm their way to warm blooded animals that they detect  nearby, and they too are sensitive to vibrations on the ground that signal the approach of prey, at which point they raise up, ready to attach to whatever touches them. They also inch their way along the ground to get to people who are sitting or sleeping on the ground.