Ticks Have a Mouth Full of Hooks to Hang On

Horror movie

You can tell it has a mouthful of hooks when you remove it, you really have to yank on it

Ticks have got to be my least favorite creature on this planet .

I’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.

Gee, 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!

@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 .

I’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

I 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.