Best way to remove ticks

[gutpile]

Bear season is here so is tick season, I just read the best way to remove ticks is to have a
small amount of liquid soap on hand and cotton balls .
Apply a small amount of liquid soap on the cotton ball and apply it on the tick , wait 15-20 seconds the tick will
spontaneously detach it self and stick to the cotton ball .

[plumberjustin]

Bear season is here so is tick season, I just read the best way to remove ticks is to have a
small amount of liquid soap on hand and cotton balls .
Apply a small amount of liquid soap on the cotton ball and apply it on the tick , wait 15-20 seconds the tick will
spontaneously detach it self and stick to the cotton ball .. There’s a high level of percentage that the tick will regurgitate on the way out when applying any foreign matter such as soap, essential oils, etc. The best way is with a tick removal tool to ensure they are grabbed at the head and pulled out cleanly. With so much talk of lime disease these days, really can’t afford to take any chances.

[bigbuzz]

What is a tick removal tool?

[stinkyduck]

Pulled a tick off my dogs neck two years ago now, and it is swelling up now. Size of a big marble?

[RINO]

What is a tick removal tool?

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=67728&cat=2,51555

[Camp Cook]

I second getting the key I have one sitting here on my keyboard.

[tigrr]

Best method is to not get any on you. There are so many sprays and lotions to stop them from attaching to you I don't know why anyone walking in the bush doesn't use them. Horse sprays with Permethrin in it on your cloths, not skin and it is good for 3 washing till it needs to be re-applied.
I hate blood sucking ticks because it is competition for the blood sucking lieberals.

[boxhitch]

canlyme.com has proper info , no myths

[Citori54]

Many doctors now recommend a course of antibiotics following the removal of an embedded tick to prevent Lyme disease. Several members of our field crew have had ticks removed in recent years and were given antibiotics.

[TexasWalker]

Buy a tick key.

Rubbing anything on a tick is a terrible idea.

[Thor762]

This is what the Aussies are starting to do with tick removal.

"Australian experts and ASCIA (the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy) now recommend you kill the adult tick on your skin with a freezing product such as Wart-Off Freeze or Elastoplast Cold Spray. These sprays contain ether which freezes the tick, thus immediately killing it and preventing it from injecting its saliva or regurgitating its contents into you." http://www.mydr.com.au/first-aid-self-care/tick-removal

"Perhaps the safest method to remove ticks is with a can of freeze-off wart remover, available from chemists. Follow the instructions and spray the remover on the tick, freezing it solid and killing it. When the tick is frozen solid you can easily pull it off with your fingers, and there is no danger that you will squeeze its stomach contents back into your skin." https://growyouthful.com/ailment/tick-bite.php


Starting fluid also has ether in it. I don't have a can of Wart off in my truck but I do have a can of Starting Fluid. I'll try it out if either I or the dogs get ticks. So far we've been lucky.

[mmckimmi]

Lots of good info in here. I'll be buying a tick key before next weekend as the ticks seem to be out in full force in the Okanagan. Have brushed to a lot off myself over the last two weekends... Gross.

Will they fully burrow into your skin, body and all, over time? Or is it just the head that gets in there with the torso exposed?

Thanks

[Camp Cook]

Just the head.

I've seen the bodies balloons out to up to 1/2" on the heads of rabbits I've shot.

[35rem]

Pulled a tick off my dogs neck two years ago now, and it is swelling up now. Size of a big marble?

Has nothing to do with the tick 2 years ago. Sounds like a growth of some kind and should be checked by your vet. In many cases a fine needle aspirate biopsy is enough for a diagnosis. This is a simple procedure that does not require an anesthetic.

[hunter1947]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/001132.JPG

[caddisguy]

I am interested in the wart remover method. I first saw it while watching a show on Netflix (dangerous animals of central America if I recall) In the demo, not only did the gas kill the tick instantly but it creates a suction that makes the tick pop out. Looks very cool and efficient.

I just use needle nose tweezers (carefully) ... I was unfortunate (maybe fortunate given my track record previous years) to have to pluck one out of my ankle when I got home yesterday.

[Roe]

Hunter 1947 shows the tool that I have used successfully on my dog and myself. I bought a box of nine which contain 2 per packet on line for $35
Why 9? As I know they work I give they to friends and family.

[hunter1947]

Hunter 1947 shows the tool that I have used successfully on my dog and myself. I bought a box of nine which contain 2 per packet on line for $35
Why 9? As I know they work I give they to friends and family.


I like ........

[J_T]

I don't get to many ticks. But, when I do, if they are starting to burrow, I use a utility blade and cut them out.... you take enough meat, and you'll be sure to get all of the tick.

[stinkyduck]

Thanks 35rem, wife has make an appointment with the vet. I was thinking bacterial infection from the tick.

[scoutlt1]

Isn't it just easier to vote them out????




Oh crap. Sorry. Thought you meant "Best way to remove dicks"...

[caddisguy]

Has nothing to do with the tick 2 years ago. Sounds like a growth of some kind and should be checked by your vet. In many cases a fine needle aspirate biopsy is enough for a diagnosis. This is a simple procedure that does not require an anesthetic.

I am not sure about dogs but tick bites can leave bumps that last for years. I have one from last year. After removing a huge female deer tick from my side, the area was pretty swollen and itchy. Over time it hardened. It's been about 8 months now and I still have it. It itches sometimes but not as bad as it used to. I have shown it to a couple of doctors. I forget the name for it.

Not medical advice of course, just wanted to point out that tick bites (probably many other bug bites or even pricks by vegetation) can cause long lasting reactions in the skin. They can either go away or the skin cells can build up into a benign tumor that is about 1cm.

[stinkyduck]

My dogs tumor is about 1cm squared, Quite red and swollen. Ive been putting tea tree oil on it daily. Going to the vet on tuesday.

[stinkyduck]

Vet said small tumor is a cyct.

[Camp Cook]

I was up Garnet Creek between Aggasiz and Hope this morning running my dogs when I got home my wife found a small tick on the neck of one of our white dogs.

After a thorough inspection on all 3 dogs I now have the flea/tick shampoo out going to give them all a much needed bath I'm then going to clean out my SUV and spray it with flea/tick spray.

[caddisguy]

Vet said small tumor is a cyct.

I have a few of those. Sometimes they itch but otherwise it's just a cosmetic thing. I forget the medical term. It's probably the same thing.

The double-tick I had on my ankle from mid April seems infected pretty bad. Probably need some topical or maybe oral antibiotics. Also just got hammered by a cold/flu (something in between) type thing. Hopefully not related. caddisgirl hasn't caught it though which is odd. Might be off to the doctor for me.

[stinkyduck]

My dogs count is now at 25 for this year alone. Found a big white colored one in her ear while fishing the other day. The cyst has receeded somewhat after putting tea tree oil on it. Also I read that oil of oregano is a good safe antibiotic for topical usage.A tics bite will sometimes leave a bacterial infection behind, same as what lyme disease is. Hammer those spots right away,just in case!!

[Grumpa Joe]

My dogs tumor is about 1cm squared, Quite red and swollen. Ive been putting tea tree oil on it daily. Going to the vet on tuesday.

Careful with the application of Tea Tree Oil on dogs. In diluted form, small amounts can be tolerated but the oil itself is toxic to cats and dogs..

[Pemby_mess]

Careful with the application of Tea Tree Oil on dogs. In diluted form, small amounts can be tolerated but the oil itself is toxic to cats and dogs..

I was gonna say^. I almost killed my dog trying to clean his ears out with some. Goes to show how much internet advice is worth. If you dilute it in olive oil or something, it's probably effective, but make sure it's never applied to anywhere they can lick; or even scratch, then lick their paws.

[wideopenthrottle]

I was gonna say^. I almost killed my dog trying to clean his ears out with some. Goes to show how much internet advice is worth. If you dilute it in olive oil or something, it's probably effective, but make sure it's never applied to anywhere they can lick; or even scratch, then lick their paws.

not just dogs and cats...it is poison to ingest it
https://www.poison.org/articles/2010-dec/tea-tree-oil

[Hank Hunter]

Used this one for a few years, has always worked well on people or animals.

https://s31.postimg.cc/ze56jp37v/tick-key.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[stinkyduck]

I didnt read anything about tea tree oil on the web, just thought it would help.I think it has, and this morning I switched to oil of oregano! THANK YOU. Pemby you seem quite smart, where do you get your info from then?? I have not found any articles writing by you or any other HBC expert for that matter! Just a little curious where your smarts come from. Professor propaganda?

[Quince2]

After hiking in jungle got a couple ticks, rubbing alcohol got them out. Just make sure to check that the head isnt left in the skin. Baby oil is a good tick repellant as well, as ticks wound bite through it....still unnerving seeing ticks crawling aroundon you though

[jlirot]

I have a few of those. Sometimes they itch but otherwise it's just a cosmetic thing. I forget the medical term. It's probably the same thing.

The double-tick I had on my ankle from mid April seems infected pretty bad. Probably need some topical or maybe oral antibiotics. Also just got hammered by a cold/flu (something in between) type thing. Hopefully not related. caddisgirl hasn't caught it though which is odd. Might be off to the doctor for me.

Dude, go to the Dr! Ticks can carry some nasty stuff. They claim that Lyme isn't in BC (I think they're still saying that) - but I'm not convinced. And even if it isn't/wasn't that doesn't mean it couldn't be here now. You don't want to mess around with Lyme - or pretty much anything else that ticks can carry. When I got a tick in CA they gave me a dose of anti-biotics as a prophylactic.

[Thor762]

Made a trip out to southern SK this past couple weeks where they are having a tick apocalypse. Just in the yard of the place we stayed my dogs picked up 40-50+ ticks in a couple of days, plus 6 on myself. One 5 minute walk around the farmyard my one dog had 7 just on a single leg. I'm glad we decided not to go for a walk in the wind breaks or coulees. Can't imagine how many are down in those areas.

Anyways, I didn't have any wart freeze off spray that contain ether. But I did have cans of Starting Fluid handy which has ether in it.

Results were impressive. A good shot of spray for a second and the tick stops moving immediately, is pretty easy to pull out, and in a few cases they fell off the dog.

I never saw the tick move again that had been sprayed by at least one full second of starting fluid. I had one that took a glancing spray and it went still for about 10 seconds and then started to wriggle again. But all the others seemed to "freeze" when sprayed and all were removed fairly easily with tweezers.

Can get a lot more individual uses out of a can of starting fluid too. It seems to have enough ether to kill or immobilize the tick for easy removal. It will be my go to for tick removal now.

[Pemby_mess]

I was gonna say^. I almost killed my dog trying to clean his ears out with some. Goes to show how much internet advice is worth. If you dilute it in olive oil or something, it's probably effective, but make sure it's never applied to anywhere they can lick; or even scratch, then lick their paws.


I didnt read anything about tea tree oil on the web, just thought it would help.I think it has, and this morning I switched to oil of oregano! THANK YOU. Pemby you seem quite smart, where do you get your info from then?? I have not found any articles writing by you or any other HBC expert for that matter! Just a little curious where your smarts come from. Professor propaganda?

Easy there big rig! I was attempting some self deprecation. I followed advice from the Internet instead of going to the vet, and paid the price by watching my dog suffer and having to go to the vet anyway with a worse condition than he had started with. Not everybody realizes how strong tea tree oil is, myself prior self included. I understand it can be used responsibly, I was just echoing the previous poster's advice that caution is needed anytime it's around a pet.

[Pemby_mess]

^ It's like the ammonia/bleach thing. Both relatively safe and useful chemicals on their own for standard applications, and often intuitively misused together - creating chlorine gas.

[Camp Cook]

https://commonsensehome.com/natural-tick-repellents/

The following was taken from the above article.

How Do Ticks Get on You?

You may have seen images with ticks standing on a blade of grass with their front legs outstretched, waiting to hitch a ride on their next victim. The article How Do Ticks Get on You? (http://insects.about.com/od/ticksmites/ss/How-Do-Ticks-Get-On-You.htm) explains what's going:

In 1881, a scientist named G. Haller published the first description of these structures, although he misunderstood their purpose. Haller believed these structures were auditory sensors (ears), when in fact they proved to be olfactory sensors (noses). So when a tick sits on a blade of grass with its front legs extended, it is effectively sniffing the air for your scent.
What’s remarkable, however, is just how well the tick can smell you, and sense even your slightest movement. The Haller’s organ can detect the carbon dioxide you exhale with each breath, and the ammonia in your sweat. With legs outstretched, the tiny tick can pick up on all the foul odors people produce, from bad breath to belches, and it can even smell your farts.



Ticks have an incredible sense of smell and can detect you coming, some even seek you out. The way that herbs work at repelling mosquitoes, spiders, ticks and other biting insects is that they provide you with sensory camouflage. They mask your natural scent and odors that the biting species find attractive.

Tick Repelling Herbs – Which Herbs Keep Ticks Away?

Many of the same herbs that repel mosquitoes (https://commonsensehome.com/natural-mosquito-repellents/) and spiders (https://commonsensehome.com/natural-spider-repellents/) also repel ticks.
Tick repelling herbs include:


Rose Geranium (http://amzn.to/2nDvWvh) (Pelargonium capitatumx raden)
Sweetgrass (http://amzn.to/1TOXQ1x) – New research (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-sweet-smelling-herb-can-ward-away-mosquitoes-180956291/) finds that sweetgrass, a meadow grass native to northern climates, contains chemicals that work as well as DEET in fending off the blood-sucking insects.
Pennyroyal
Rosemary
Rue
Wormwood
Lavender (http://amzn.to/2nDFV3A)
Lemongrass
Citronella (http://amzn.to/2nDwelO)
Eucalyptus

Planting any of the above herbs, as well as Beauty Berry Bush and Mountain Mint, will act as a natural tick repellent for your yard.

[orest.06]

Apparently a couple drops of geranium rose oil at the base of the spine adjacent to the tail will keep the ticks off dogs! I spray a mix of it with water all over my hunting cap & no more new ticks in the scalp! Should have done it inside my boots. They went there instead.

[orest.06]

Tweezers with firm but not too tight grasp & 1/4 turn to the left with a pull. Works well.

[caddisguy]

Dude, go to the Dr! Ticks can carry some nasty stuff. They claim that Lyme isn't in BC (I think they're still saying that) - but I'm not convinced. And even if it isn't/wasn't that doesn't mean it couldn't be here now. You don't want to mess around with Lyme - or pretty much anything else that ticks can carry. When I got a tick in CA they gave me a dose of anti-biotics as a prophylactic.

ya I might be heading to the doctor tomorrow for a serious conversation. Yes they will tell you first there is no lyme in BC, then you can point out data that shows not only is there lyme but the chilliwack/hope areas are considered "high risk hot spots" ... then they will acknowledge around 20% of ticks carry lyme but transmission rate is low if removed properly within 24 hours... then you point you you have been bitten dozens of times and sometimes a few days after you have been home from camping... then they say if you had lyme you'd be virtually crippled and therefor you dont have it dont worry. I have had multiple doctors play the exact same script.

I'll probably point out that the government is issuing warnings about lyme and there is actually a reasonable chance that I (the patient sitting in front of them) have been bitten by more ticks than anyone in BC. Hunters get bit more than anyone. I am curious where I fall on the scale? It must be high up there. I have most certainly pulled more than 50 out of me (and busted hundreds on my skin/clothes) and I have no idea how many I have missed. I know that I have missed some for days but won't elaborate on how and "where" I found them (or parts of them)

I have been sick since Saturday... missed 3 days of work so far. I recall reading something about being suspicious if you have been hit by ticks and come down with something like this in the summer. My ankle is still pretty infected.

Do I think I have lyme disease? Probably not, but it's worth checking into and I'm tired of the BS. No more messing around. Going to tell the doctor what's what.

AND I don't want some 2 week prescription of oral antibiotics as lip service. I am not going to take anything without confirmation. I want testing. Proper testing. It's going to happen.

I have no problem looking a doctor in the eye now and pointing out the government warnings and challenging them to present me a case of any patient who has been bitten more than I have. Heck I have tons of pictures and videos of ticks stuck in me. TBH I think most doctors don't believe reports of being bit. They just think you are a hypochondriac and at most maybe saw one on your clothing. I believe there is pressure for doctors not to acknowledge lyme beyond giving antibiotics as a preventative measure for recent bites, but the government rhetoric versus that of our public healthcare system is very contradictory. I think truth is getting the upper-hand against a health care system that is being squeezed financially and stretched all over as far as service is concerned.

Anyway despite all the warnings about tick populations... I only got bit a few times this year... a fraction of previous years. Not sure what I attribute that to. I was wearing some cheap polyester rain pants that I don't think they liked... perhaps they could not cling onto it easily. The ones I busted hitching a ride would hold up around my stock line. The ones that nailed my I believe either decided to travel down the sock or maybe nailed me shortly after getting changing and leaving things untucked.

[Camp Cook]

I've been researching Permethrin a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide and how it is being used to impregnate clothes that you can buy or it can be sprayed on clothes to prevent ticks from climbing on you it will kill them as well.

It does not work on skin though basically breaks down in 15 minutes you need Deet for skin.

It is used on crops to kill over 100 different types of insects one ad I found on the Sawyer web site shows a fellow spraying his dog.

Thru my company I can buy CroPro Pounce I just got off the phone with my herbicide sprayer we are going to check into this for spraying around yards and on dogs = cats are not to get near it until it is dry though and do not spray it on cats.

[Sportster]

Don't know if this works on tics, but if you ever get a leech on you just give it a little shot of mosquito repellent, they let go instantly. It might be worth a try.

[stinkyduck]

Ya sorry Pemby......... working night shift.The cyst now is about 20 percent of the original size, mainly from the tea tree oil now oil of oregano. Its on the back of her neck , so no chance to lick it. However I would suspect that tea tree oil would also be toxic to humans if swallowed.

[stinkyduck]

So after one week of using this- 20 drops of rose geranium oil, two cups of vinegar and one cup of water. All mixed up and put in a spray bottle, I spray this on my dog before we go for a walk. No ticks.

[caddisguy]

I got nailed this weekend... huge red welt all swelled up... probably 4x2 inch red and puffed out half an inch. Guessing that will leave another itchy beauty mark for the next several months. I video'd my weekend tick encounters and burning the little effers lol

[Greenthumbed]

During the three weeks in may in which my family and I traveled through the north western states we encountered 4 of the little *******s. One was stuck to my ass! I got him off before he buried himself.
In 20 years of working in the bush I encountered 1 tick and now this spring I've seen half a dozen! Scary!

[Black Lab]

Not so easy finding ticks on a black lab. We just use "NexGard" from our vet for control of fleas and ticks. I don't know how it works but it works. NOT for People, ,,, lol

[DarekG]

Can you even get Permethrin in Canada?

[caddisguy]

I got a requisition for a Lyme test today. That only took 5 years and 6 doctors :)

Oddly enough this tick bite I got on Saturday is getting strange looking, like a bunch of stretch marks coming out of it. I googled "ticks bite stretch marks" and apparently this is a sign of something called Bartonella which from what I read sounds just as bad as Lyme. Eff ticks !!!!

Anyone know anything about Bartonella? Does the rash occur at the site of infection at first?

[wos]

I'm either lucky or dumb but up until yesterday I have only had one experience with ticks. So me and my girls 12 and 6 went canoeing, we dragged the canoe across a small meadow through some reed grass and jumped in. About half way through the reeds, I look down, In the bottom of the canoe is a engorged tick. Let's just say it's a miracle we didn't end up all swimming.

[Beachcomber]

Spotted this article this morning (Permetherin again): https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/09/625459326/to-repel-ticks-try-spraying-your-clothes-with-a-pesticide-derived-from-mums

[Busterpayton54]

I just hose myself with the permetherine. No reaction what so ever. All over myself like mosquito spray, up inside the pant legs, sleeves, waistline, down my neck. Leaving no entrance lacking coverage. Still haven't seen a single tick.

[downsouth204]

Oh for Christs sake, lol....pull them off. Grew up in Manitoba and had thousands of the little buggers on me as a kid. If you're out in the bush, check yourself thoroughly afterward and you won't have a problem.

Cheers!

[Camp Cook]

I just hose myself with the permetherine. No reaction what so ever. All over myself like mosquito spray, up inside the pant legs, sleeves, waistline, down my neck. Leaving no entrance lacking coverage. Still haven't seen a single tick.

I just bought a liter of 10% - 13% Permetherin concentrate with a .05% mix to water I can make 20 liters of odorless spray plan on spraying my clothes especially my pants, boots and gators looking at a lesser % mix to match what is available in pet stores to spray on my dogs.

It is a residual spray I'm thinking I may spray it around my camps to keep mosquitoes and well as ticks, wasps, hornets away from us.

FYI the commonly available bug spray "Ant Out" maybe the cheapest over the counter spray to buy it is a very weak Permetherin product that works a buddy of mine sprayed it on his clothes after they were dry he put them on and went to a corner of his property that always has mosquitoes none of them came close to him.

[Kill-da-wabbit]

A little dab of vaseline works great too. They back right up as they can't breath and just wipe them off with a paper towel. Although explaining to people why you're going into the woods by yourself with a jar of vaseline can be awkward...

[Camp Cook]

^^^ lol...

[Busterpayton54]

I just bought a liter of 10% - 13% Permetherin concentrate with a .05% mix to water I can make 20 liters of odorless spray plan on spraying my clothes especially my pants, boots and gators looking at a lesser % mix to match what is available in pet stores to spray on my dogs.

It is a residual spray I'm thinking I may spray it around my camps to keep mosquitoes and well as ticks, wasps, hornets away from us.

FYI the commonly available bug spray "Ant Out" maybe the cheapest over the counter spray to buy it is a very weak Permetherin product that works a buddy of mine sprayed it on his clothes after they were dry he put them on and went to a corner of his property that always has mosquitoes none of them came close to him.

woild you mind sharing the source of this concentrate?

The arerosol cans I picked up were .5% and yes, .5. While other branded were .05%. Unless it's a typo on the can.

From everything I read, .5% is all you need. I saw no mention of going higher, but perhaps that's a safe limit for humans? However I never saw any mention of that either.

It is also fetal for bees, so keep that in mind if using as an area spray. Those are one insect that I know we need more of.

[Mosin]

A little dab of vaseline works great too. They back right up as they can't breath and just wipe them off with a paper towel. Although explaining to people why you're going into the woods by yourself with a jar of vaseline can be awkward...

Maybe for you...when I get caught with a jar of Vaseline in the woods, most are smart enough not to ask

[Camp Cook]

woild you mind sharing the source of this concentrate?

My source won't help you they won't sell over the counter.

I own a landscaping business which includes spraying herbicides and insecticides I buy products like this thru my company.

[Busterpayton54]

My source won't help you they won't sell over the counter.

I own a landscaping business which includes spraying herbicides and insecticides I buy products like this thru my company.

and you re-sell to hbc'ers ��?

Im just kiddin. These cans are only $13 each and lasted 2 adults and a dog 8 days. I don't know how long it would repel ticks for but we re-applied every 2 days and I hosed my dog down when the skeeters began to bother him.