<p>Is there some kind of tic explosion/infestation going on? To my knowledge, I have never had a tic before. However, this week I’ve pulled out three (ok, I had someone else pull them off while I practically fainted). I am worried about lyme disease, so I’m now on doxycyline. Is the tic population growing? I am so creeped out.</p>
<p>At first, I thought the Tourette’s people might hunt you down for being so tactless. I think you mean to say ticks are gross and creepy.</p>
<p>Oh lord, you are right. Isn’t there a current thread out there by some kid complaining that his mother cannot spell?! </p>
<p>Tried to edit, but the time has lasped, and the administrator will not let me.</p>
<p>More ticks this year - mild winter in NJ</p>
<p>They are HORRIBLE this year by us (northern NJ). Every day we have to pull ticks off our dog. H walks her and she must be a tick magnet. I have not had too much trouble with them on the cats though.</p>
<p>It was not a mild winter where we are! It was a long, cold winter.</p>
<p>I agree - they are gross. When my daughter was a toddler I remember her getting one on her throat. I couldn’t find tweezers and couldn’t stand to wait till my husband got home so went frantically knocking on unknown neighbors doors looking for tweezers. One kindly elderly man went and got some then looked at my face and asked if i wanted him to remove it. (imagine me in whiney voice ‘yeees’). I am sure he thought I was a nut job.</p>
<p>I have progressed to being able remove them myself but they still creep me out big time. ugh ugh ugh!!!</p>
<p>You can actually purchase a tick removal device- it looks like a small spoon with a notch in it. It “scoops” the entire tick off the poor pooch. Our vet gave us ours- dog doesn’t seem to mind it nearly as much as the tweezers.</p>
<p>lyme disease isn’t an issue except with deer ticks. that being said, other ticks can carry some nasty stuff, too.</p>
<p>Just in case I ever get a tick (ewwww) what is the proper way of getting rid of it?</p>
<p>If there is a tick within 5 miles it will find our dog. I pick them off of her so often we have a designated pair of “tick removal tweezers”.</p>
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<p>haha, don’t worry about it. I understood what you meant even before I read the thread. I think most of us are mature enough not to offend those with Tourettes :)</p>
<p>Yes, ticks are gross. I know a girl with Lyme disease and the disease is certainly not easy. Good luck keeping them away from you.</p>
<p>“lyme disease isn’t an issue except with deer ticks. that being said, other ticks can carry some nasty stuff, too”.</p>
<p>Yep - deer ticks are the very small ticks (even my Dr. didn’t understand that it had to be a deer tick for lime disease). But in NC you can get Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from other ticks. Most tick problems can be avoided if you check and remove any found daily. </p>
<p>County extension agents may have some hints on tick control.</p>
<p>My Tennessee uncles used to burn them off with the end of a cigarette. Don’t try this at home.</p>
<p>Years ago, I acquired a few ticks after a walk in the woods in Minnesota. Since then, my relationship with the great outdoors has been antagonistic, to say the least. My husband tells me I’m like Melman from Madagascar: “Ahhhhh! Nature! It’s all over me! Get it off!”</p>
<p>GA2012MOM, all you ever wanted to know about tick removal:</p>
<p>[Tick</a> Removal - August 15, 2002 - American Family Physician](<a href=“http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020815/643.html]Tick”>http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020815/643.html)</p>
<p>I’ve never used tweezers to remove a tick in my life, especially from a dog. Just get a good grip with your fingers and pull it off, then grind under your heel or flush down the drain.</p>
<p>My H discovered an engorged deer tick on his forearm when I was in labor with our S. When the doctor, who had been off eating dinner, came back, she said, “What should I do first, check you for dilation or remove the tick?” </p>
<p>I gave her a look.</p>
<p>She checked me first. :D</p>
<p>Oh, and BTW, I have free range chickens. They REALLY cut down on the tick and Japanese beetle population.</p>
<p>Not helping those of you just now dealing with ticks, but a thousand years ago when I was an undergrad, our prim and proper Brit prof in charge of the summer field studies class had to cover tick checks and tick removal. It got pretty giggly. THis was back in the day when there were maybe 3 female grad students out of the class of 50. We didn’t learn much from him, but in general… do a full body check daily, especially ends of clothes and edges of hairlines.</p>
<p>When D1 was a toddler, we were excited to take her on her first camping trip. It was still pretty chilly in May in Minnesota, but we were game. We went on a hike, and when we got back in the tent she said, “Wook, Mommy, there are BUGS on me”. “Oh, so there are, let’s just hand those out the tent door to Daddy, shall we?” We spent the rest of the afternoon picking ticks off ourselves and giving the “bugs” to Daddy to dispose of…</p>
<p>Another time I was on a canoeing trip, and ticks were dropping out of the trees onto us at as we sat around the campfire. We put them on sticks and toasted them in the fire. We were with some newlywed friends, and she had never been camping before. She sat in the car and refused to come out after the first tick dropped on her. He was super-outdoorsy, and they had married after a whirlwind courtship. We lost touch shortly after that, but I have wondered if they managed to stay together given her aversion to the outdoors.</p>
<p>Oh, and my friend Mary has a hilarious story about being in a business meeting after we went camping one weekend, and being CERTAIN she felt a tick crawling on herself. She excused herself to the bathroom. Couldn’t find it, so went back to the meeting. Had to leave AGAIN. Took 3 trips to the bathroom to track it down, but there was indeed a tick on her (anyone’s skin crawling just from reading this?).</p>
<p>yes, especially the part where the ticks are dropping out of trees.</p>