Tis the season for removing ticks

Ticks are every where.  They will find you when you're doing yard work, taking a walk or just sitting out doors.  Pets that go outdoors are also good a way to come in contact with ticks.  If your pet has picked up one of these evil hitchhikers, all the pet has to do is brush up against you to transfer the dangerous and creepy passenger.

Dog ticks are usually big enough to be seen.  Deer ticks can be as small as a pencil dot and are easy to miss.  Bites from either kind can be painful.  Removing the miserable things from your flesh once they've attached themselves is extremely painful.  Either kind of tick can transmit diseases.  The tiny deer tick is notorious for transmitting Lyme disease. 

To remove a tick once it has attached its self to you, grasp it up against your skin and yank it straight out.  I have actually done this with my long fingernails.  There is also a device called a tick key.  This device works well on bigger ticks but doesn't really work on the tiny ticks.  For small ticks, using tweezers is probably the best method. 

It is very important to remove the whole tick.  Once the tick is removed, make sure the head is still attached to the body.  Unfortunately, sometimes the tick's head will remain lodged in your skin.  It should be removed as soon as possible, by a doctor if necessary.

Some people coat the attached tick with Vaseline and wait for it to drop off.  This can take hours.  I wouldn't advise this.  The longer the tick stays attached to you, the greater your chances of contracting a tick borne disease.  There is also more of an ick factor with this method.  Personally, I couldn't stand the idea of knowing the thing is still attached.

I don't think there is a safe way to keep your pets from bringing you ticks.  That well known stuff that's applied to the nape of the pet's neck theoretically will kill the tick after it bites the pet.  But that stuff will not keep ticks from getting in your pet's fur and then on to you.  It is best to inspect your pet when he or she comes in and carefully remove any visible ticks.  I put the ticks on tape and wrap them in it so they don't get loose again and get me.  I hate it when that happens.

Baby deer ticks like to attach themselves on cats where the fur is thin, especially around the eye and ear areas.     

I have learned the hard way that it is nearly impossible to spot ticks on black or dark clothes.  Save the black clothes for winter.  It is also nearly impossible to spot ticks on black cats or cats with black markings.  Sometimes, if you get really lucky, in bright sun the tick will show up as reddish against black fur.

Happy hunting!