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Ticks Have a Mouth Full of Hooks to Hang On
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Home › Forums › Campfire › The Natural World › Ticks Have a Mouth Full of Hooks to Hang On
- This topic has 7 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by David Thomas.
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Mar 21, 2018 at 8:31 pm #3526164Mar 21, 2018 at 8:49 pm #3526170
Horror movie
You can tell it has a mouthful of hooks when you remove it, you really have to yank on it
Mar 21, 2018 at 8:56 pm #3526174Ticks have got to be my least favorite creature on this planet .
Aug 30, 2018 at 12:18 am #3553729I’ve found that heat from a lighter held close to the tick (but not on it) will make it quickly retract that hooky mouth and release from me.
Pulling the tick off with tweezers can leave more bacteria and even parts of the mouth in your skin.
Aug 30, 2018 at 12:34 am #3553733Gee, thanks, Doug…I think. Yuck! But fascinating.
I once went hiking with a friend in one of our regional parks in the spring. She wore woolly knee socks with shorts. I could see 2-4 ticks hanging on the ends of tall grass on either side of the trail, just waiting for us to walk by. Luckily I was wearing long pants that day, tucked into my socks; she got a few ticks embedded, I had a couple on my pants I found but nothing got to my skin. It was a science (and hiking safety) lesson!
Aug 30, 2018 at 3:37 pm #3553843@Eric Lymedieaseaction.org.uk. : “DO NOT try to burn the tick off, apply petroleum jelly, nail polish or any other chemical. Any of these methods can cause discomfort to the tick, resulting in regurgitation, or saliva release.”
The Lyme disease bacteria is contained in the tick saliva
So be nice to ticks, at least until you’ve got it out with sharp tweezers or some other device. And then <b>stamp on it</b>.
Or save it on sticky tape in case you need evidence that you have had a tick bite, and a lab can also determine whether or not it was carrying Lyme’s .
Aug 30, 2018 at 3:48 pm #3553846I’ve used those tick twisters, they work pretty good https://www.amazon.com/Tick-Twister-Remover-Small-Large/dp/B00X7072HY
I don’t necessarily have to twist, just pull
Tick key works, but on some of them the slot isn’t narrow enough
Aug 30, 2018 at 9:04 pm #3553918I tell people, in my most serious voice, that you need to remove ticks like a right-handed screw – “righty-tighty, lefty-lousy” and many people are convinced until I say that in the Southern Hemisphere they are left-handed and you need to go in the reverse direction.
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