Just another word about ticks...

A couple of things I forgot to mention in the last post.

There are two schools of thought on removing the tick. There is the medical way that doctors promote and the "old-fashioned" ways that have been passed down to us for generations from the country folk because there was no doctor around.

Some of the old-fashioned ways include burning the tick with a matchhead (not recommended with your furry animal!!) or coating the tick with paint, nail polish or gasoline. Again, not recommended! The idea behind petroleum jelly (like Vaseline) is that it's commonly found in most homes, it's completely harmless and, when applied to the tick, it suffocates it.

The old way includes soaping your fingers with a regular bar of soap (and I really don't know why we are supposed to do it...this is what I was taught by others), grabbing the tick and slowly pulling it away.

The medical way advises using a pair of tweezers. Apparently they want you to twist the tick onto its back so it doesn't release the venom which carries disease. You can find detailed instructions on how they recommend you remove the tick and why on the emedicine web site.

One other point - when you do successfully remove the tick, please put it in an ashtray and burn it, particularly if you have only taken the body (or you're just not sure what you've removed) because a tick will grow another head or body and keep on living. And they are very hard to squash because they are so hardy. I hate them...they're disgusting...I'm sure they have a purpose on this earth but they are one of those creatures that I just cannot learn to love or respect.