If you garden, hike, or simply dare to exist outside during spring and summer—congrats, you're officially on the menu. Ticks don’t just bite. They latch. They burrow. And they can carry everything from Lyme disease to a lifelong allergy to red meat.
So here's how to remove a tick properly (video included), how to identify the dangerous ones, and what you need to know to avoid turning your next walk in the woods into a medical mystery.
Table of Contents
Why Fast Tick Removal Matters
Ticks are more than just parasitic freeloaders.
- Lyme Disease is the most common and dangerous illness associated with ticks.
- Alpha-Gal Syndrome, caused by the Lone Star tick, can make you allergic to red meat. BURGERS!
- Other risks include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Tularemia. So, ya.
Time is critical. The sooner you remove a tick (within 24 hours), the lower your risk of contracting disease.
Tick Removal Video + Tips
📹 How to Remove a Tick
✔️ Don’t use Vaseline, a match, or rubbing alcohol to “force” the tick out.
✔️ Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick removal tool made for humans.
✔️ Pull straight out—slow and steady, no twisting.
The tick removal kit I use is similar to this one on Amazon.
How to Remove a Tick
How to safely and properly remove a tick.
Tools
- Tick Removal Tool
- or
- Tick Removal Key
Instructions
- Using a tick removal tool like this one or a set of sharp, pointy tweezers, grasp the tick right near the skin it's attached to. Slowly pull straight up.Try to remove it intact and without squeezing it. Squeezing a tick will release pathogens and bacteria into you through its mouth.
- Didn’t get the head/mouth out? Using tweezers again, try to get the mouth parts out.
- Wash the area with soap and water and apply Polysporin or something similar.
- Place the tick onto a white piece of paper to identify it. Tape it to the paper with clear tape to save the tick. .
- If you think there's a need to have the tick identified, place it into a specimen jar (or tape it to paper) and mail it to the appropriate place in your town or city.
- If you cannot get the tick out, go to a health care provider or urgent care facility to have it removed. *
Notes
*remember my sister's tick was embedded so deeply it had to be cut out by a doctor.
Recommended Products
I'm an Amazon affiliate some I get a few cents when you buy something I've linked to.
Identifying Ticks (With Chart)
Ticks that matter in Canada and the U.S.:
| Tick | Diseases | Size | Markings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deer Tick (Blacklegged) | Lyme Disease | Poppyseed (nymph), sesame seed (adult) | Solid black shield |
| Dog Tick | Tularemia, RMSF | Larger than deer tick | Patterned shield |
| Lone Star Tick | Tularemia, Alpha-Gal | Medium, white dot on back (females) |
🔍 Notable Signs
- Engorged deer tick: reddish-brown
- Engorged dog tick: greenish-grey
- All ticks = 8 legs
- Lone Star ticks are now confirmed in Ontario
How to Prevent Tick Bites
- 👖 Wear long pants & tuck them into socks
- 🧴 Use repellent with 30% DEET (Off Deep Woods) or Repel (Picardin). For a natural repellant use Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus
- 🚫 Avoid tall grasses and brush
- 🕵️ Check your skin immediately after being outdoors
- 🚿 Check again in the shower
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
⚠️ Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus is NOT an essential oil. No essential oils tested have proven to be effective.
Tick Bite FAQ
Q: Do tick bites hurt?
Nope. That’s the problem.
Q: How long can ticks live without feeding?
Up to 2 years. So yes—they're motivated.
Q: Will you always get a rash?
No, but many Lyme cases do feature a “bullseye” rash.
Tick Removal Myths (Don’t Do These)
- ❌ Petroleum jelly
- ❌ Rubbing alcohol
- ❌ Hot match
All ineffective. All potentially dangerous. All still widely believed.
How I Deal With Tick Bites
- Remove the tick with my tick tool
- Drop it in a plastic container → freezer
- Clean the bite site with isopropyl alcohol
- Monitor the area daily for one month
- Watch for signs: rash, fever, fatigue
🧊 Freezing the tick allows you to get it tested later, if symptoms appear.
Personal Tick Encounters (The Bonus Content)
That Time My Sister Had a Tick Surgically Removed
She found it mid-shower. Couldn’t see clearly. Just a tangle of legs sticking out of her. Full-body horror. Emergency room. Scalpels. A real-life I Love Lucy episode.
My First Tick
Back of the neck. Mid-weeding. A fellow gardener saw it before I did. We had nothing to remove it with. No straw, (you can cut a V into the end of a plastic straw and use it to remove ticks) no tweezers. Just a lot of yelling and a caravan trip to my house. Tick tool acquired. Tick removed. Tick identified: Dog tick.
I’ve found ticks on myself every year since. I now treat the garden like a war zone—and I'm the medic.
Final Words (and an Invite)
I didn’t write this post because I love ticks. I wrote it because I hate them—and I want you to be prepared.
If you’ve been “ticked” this year (or any other), share your story in the comments. It’s comforting in a strange way to know we’re all out here together, plucking parasitic nightmares off our necks.
🪱 This concludes Tick Talk.
laury nichols
Re. killing/disposing of ticks: I always have some small squares of cheap white duct tape on my pants when I go out, when I spot a tick on my clothes, I smack them with it, ticks stick to it, press them down to it if you want. fold over the tape, they are sealed in forever. I prefer that to flicking them off, everyone gone the better, and prefer it to stopping to dismembering them with a rock.
Cheryl
Living in the country of So. CA, we have our share of ticks. Keeping our three acres of land brushed in preparation of the fire season always brings the tick buggers out. Opportunistic for sure. I've found a trick to remove them that has been successful for us. I use hairspray. Yep. I spray until totally saturated and dripping where they have attached. They back out and are easy to grab with a tweezers and pull out or away. I don't know if it's the alcohol, the coldness, or blocking their breathing that works - but it does. Dogs are happy too and less traumatized. My hubby does the dirty work of destroying them afterwards.
ReetaVeeda
Ticks really tick me off! We are in rural Burlington, Ontario; I thought they were bad last year, but so far, This year is the worst! Our white standard poodle is on Nexgard once a month and it protects Her... but it causes the ticks to Crawl Off and look for something more tasty: Us! As easy as it is to see them and remove them from her because 1. she is white and 2. they seem Really Large this year, we still find some in the house, crawling, or attached to the humans. So Disgusting: we pick them off immediately, By Hand! and throw them in the sink or out on the sidewalk, and torch the buggers with a BBQ lighter: SO Rewarding when they POP! About 99% have been dog ticks, we have only found around 5 deer ticks...we have purchased permethrin treated clothing at Marks Work Wearhouse, which can't hurt, also: they are easier to spot on light coloured clothing. We too, are hopeful for a similar human form of Nexgard chewable tablet as it doesn't look like they will be decreasing in numbers anytime soon.. Ugh! How is Philip doing through all this TicketyBooHullaballoo?
Kay
As satisfying as destroying them is, if they've bitten anyone should save them for at least a month (or3?), in case anyone gets sick, the tick can be tested. Saving ideas: in a bag or jar in the freezer (date of when it was taken off), a jar with an alcohol soaked cotton ball inside, also dated. Frankly I'd still feel safer putting that one in the freezer too!
Karen
Hi! Philip is on Bravecto and I couldn't see if a suckling pig was attached to him under his big black coat let a lone a tick. I looked into the Marks Work Wearhouse treated clothing as well. I didn't get it though figuring it would be too hot to wear in the summer at the garden which is where I would need it. So I spray myself and hope for the best. ~ karen!
ReetaVeeda
If Lip is on drugs then he is safe... it's YOU I worry about! Seriously: if the ticks don't die on him, they will crawl to the nearest warm body.....guess WHO! YouHaveBeenWarned!
And...you are Right; the clothing IS HOT! I still wear the shirt tho...when I didn't, I found 2 ticks attached on the back of my neck! And I am very reactive to tick bites: swollen AND itchy!!! Antihistamines are my drug of desire!
Karen
You're lucky you're so reactive! Then you know they're on you. I do worry about them crawling off him and onto me. :/ At the garden in early spring I wear boots and pants tucked into socks etc. But with the weather like today I'd pass out doing that. So I spray and pray. ~ karen!
Mary W
Many, many times I've been lunch for a tick. Never hurts but eventually they do itch but not as much as a mosquito bite. I was given a tick puller to attach to a key chain, light and like a cut straw. They explained that I was stronger than a tick and IF is slowly, ever so slowly increased, a steady amount of pulling and it would let go (probably wouldn't have worked on Pink Tool Belt) but it does the trick every time. No heads left in. SLOW!!! and they aren't decapitated so they crawl fast. Never got ill but have several friends that are suffering for a lifetime with Lyme. Florida is just a haven for ticks, deer, and gardeners. They also attach to bushes and tree limbs and hang there waiting for you to brush by - legs extended and sometimes branches are covered thickly with ticks. The more we cleaned up the yard, the less the ticks, but the deer still come strolling through dropping their hitchhikers willy nilly through my garden and planting beds hence the name of our subdivision is Buck Bay. cute.
Karen
When I get fed up with society I always say I'm going to live alone in a cabin in the woods. And then I remember the ticks and decide to deal with society. ~ karen!
Kay
The nasty squirrel vermin drop ticks all over. People keep saying that ticks don't drip on ya from trees, but if there's a nasty squirrel scratching up above you... Falling ticks. Yuck! After cutting down the trees leaning over the house we definitely have fewer tick problems. I used get them just walking to or from the car! Ugh. Nasty buggers. Ticks, and squirrels. 😉
MariLynn Dell
My dog Dexter is a chocolate labradoodle who picked up a tick probably in the Rouge Park in Toronto. He started acting all sad and droopy, didn't enjoy his walks anymore which is waaay out of character. I took him to the vets and $1200.00 later found out he had lyme disease and was on antibiotics. He was back to his normal self within a week thank God! That was about 3 years ago, he's 10 years old now and has not had a relapse 🤞🤞🙏🙏
Karen
Did the vet say he'll always test positive for Lyme disease? A vet told my sister that after her dog tested positive and was treated. ~ karen!
Shanelle
My husband was bit by a deer tick last July and never developed a rash or any other symptoms. Well, that was the case until one hot August night when he said his heart "felt funny". He was supposed to be leaving to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro in 3 days so I figured he was just nervous. I, being a loving and supportive wife, told him to go to bed. He did but made a doctor appointment for the next morning. Long story short - he had contracted Lyme disease from that tick and the infection set into his heart, producing a total heart block and causing his heart rate to drop into the teens. Needless to say, instead of fulfilling a lifelong dream of hiking the tallest mountain in Africa he instead spent 3 days in ICU getting a pacemaker. At 40 years old. It wasn't the trip of a lifetime but it sure was an adventure. All this to say - beware of ticks. We were probably a little lazy before this but we've learned our lesson.
Karen
That's an awful story but a great warning for people. ~ karen!
Sabina
I die! Woods across the street, a Lake Erie beach at the end of the road, big grassy backyard, very big vegetable and perennial gardens, deer and other appropriate wildlife…and a 7 month old black & white puppy. I dread the thought of an unchecked tick daily! The woods at least are completely off limits because it’s loaded with poison ivy, there’s that, lol.
Karen
They're awful creepy land leeches. ~ karen!
Terry Rutherford
I too live in SW Ontario. Rural. Nice tick ridden forest to the south but we seldom go in during the high tick months. We’re up to 20 ticks this year. Not a record for us. One year we made it to 178 ticks. Ugh. The dog treatment, Symparica Trio, has been an expensive miracle. I love to see those dead ticks on or fallen off the pups. I encourage local opossums, which are both hilarious and adorable. However, this year, all of the ticks have been on us (try crossing white socks, suckas!) and I had my second ever engorged tick on my ear pinna, tucked away noshing. I’ve no idea for how long. I confess I use my nails to slowly remove ticks, usually easy peasy but the ear one took work, the proboscis was lo-o-ong and buried, took flesh with it. Probably a deer tick, no rash, phew. Enough grossness. Your poor sister!
Karen
At this time of year they are SO hard to see because they're in nymph stage. And - I mean - you can only see so many of your own body parts so there's always a chance you've missed a hiding one. Blech. ~ karen!
Auntiepatch
As soon as I saw Ticks!, I started scratching! Living in So. Calif. most of my life, I haven't had a tick on me for 50 years. Hate the little buggers! Our vacations in Missouri visiting grandparents introduced us to them. Their poor dogs were covered with them.
MSM is sold at Amazon as a powder or capsule form.
bill
My favorite tick tool is the "tick twister". For yard treatment, homemade tick tubes, empty tp tubes filled with cotton balls that have been sprayed with permethrin. Mice take them to make nests with and kill baby ticks that live on them. For personal tick repellent, I sprinkle MSM in my coffee every day. MSM is a flavorless formulation of sulfur. Ticks walk around on me, but seldom attach.
Karen
I'm going to look into this MSM business! ~ karen
Jane Glazer
I'm a big proponent of lawn chemicals and love that I can control ticks, grub worms, webworms, chiggers, and more by simply applying a nice granule to the yard. Easy-Peasy. I've also found some nice tick removers (that work) that look like little crowbars on EBay for less than $1.00. You get a pair of them for 2 different sizes of ticks.
Karen but definitely not the Karen who runs the blog
Guess you aren’t a big fan of eating anything …lawn chemicals kill both “ good “ bugs like bees as well as ticks . Just saying
Jan in Waterdown
Hey Karen! Have you heard/read anything recently about whether “our” medical profession has come up to speed on recognition and treatment of Lyme Disease yet? I’ve read a number of horror stories about a lack of education causing folks to have to go cross border for accurate assessment. We have 3 or 4 deer in our yard on a regular basis visiting our neighbours’ bird feeder, so I know we gots the wee buggers too. Wish we could convince them to stop feeding all the wildlife.... squirrels, coyotes, raccoons, even a turkey yesterday!
Lyanne Hoefer
Ticks can be present WITH OT WITHOUT deer ! Let them feed animals ;)
Bonnie Goodrich-Wilcoxson
I’m waiting for Bravecto chews for humans. Chocolate fudge would be nice.
Mary W
Ticked? OMG so many times. The worst was when my dog was a month late getting her hair cut and I didn't notice but several ticks were on her and had crawled off to lay eggs. I did notice the hundreds of baby ticks crawling up my living room wall from the baseboard tick nursery. I then realized that I had accidentally used flea medicine instead of flea/tick medicine on her. My subdivision is called Buck Bay and having a tick on you is something you check every time you come in from the yard. We also have bucks, does, fawns playing and feeding on our grass regularly (3-4 times a month). I've counted 13 out our dining room window just 20 feet from where we were standing. Anyway, I've been bit so many times and it was horrible trying to get rid of the ticks inside. Had to throw away my silk drapes, rip out the lining on the couch (they just wouldn't die and I used a lot of poison but not where my skin would contact the fabric. No bad outcomes. That was about 13 years ago. Just last week I felt one on my back while in bed - I was home alone, 1 AM and couldn't reach it. I had to wait until the morning when my daughter came home to get it off and let me tell you - laying in bed knowing that thing was in my back was torture. I was afraid to lay on it for fear it would let go and crawl into my ear - afraid to sleep not knowing when it was done eating. I sat up leaning on my side for the rest of the night trying desperately to stay awake and when it was finally pulled out, I could hear angels singing. I pulled one from my naughty bits (Monty Python reference) about a month ago and was relieved it didn't crawl inside. They do itch somewhat once they are fully engaged in dinner. That is normally how I find them and the bite continues to itch for a couple weeks afterward. Love the deer, love to garden, but HATE the stinking ticks. Normally there is some good from anything alive but I can't think of anything good - well maybe, I know Guinea Hens eat them but we aren't allowed to have fowl in our neighborhood. Aren't you glad you asked? My turn - did you get the community garden problem resolved?
Jan in Waterdown
Whoa I started scratching just reading that! Where the heck is Buck Bay? Gotta love local regs, ok to have flocks of deer and a bazillion ticks but not ok to have something that’ll eat them 🙄.
Mary W
Florida - tick paradise
Jane A Glazer
Hello,
Have you tried treating your yard for ticks? I think you can do it as little as once or twice/ year. If you get it down early enough, the ticks have less chance to get in trees to jump down on you, too.
Mary W
The cost to 'treat' the yard is astronomical and since it rains so often, it would need to be repeated often. Actually, ticks climb up low shrubs and hang off by their hind legs to grab onto anything walking by. We have been diligent about cutting back grass and weeds and the ticks have decreased along with the increase in neighbors and cleared lawns. Sad but I think I like the ticks better. The deer are still here and often leave their babies during the day to play in our backyard (under the trampoline). I finally got an electric fence for my teeny, tiny garden thanks to Karen's great instructions. Now if she could just do something about the neighbors. LOL
Karen
I meant to remind you something about your fence. Make sure you check it daily to ensure there isn't anything brushing against the wires like weeds or plants. It make the fence less "shocky". ~ karen!
Mary W
The fence is working nicely! Everytime I go in the garden, often, I think of you. Which is better than thinking of you everytime I feel a tick? I didn't realize how many times I've commented on ticks - they are life changing as is old age and forgetful memory. But never forgot the ticks
Keely
From the Wildlife Medical Clinic:
One unsung hero of the animal kingdom that helps keep the tick levels down is the humble opossum, America’s only marsupial, which kills nearly 95% of ticks that cross their path. It is estimated that a single opossum is capable of eating an estimated 5,000 ticks every season!
Mary W
I had no idea! We do have opossums that love to dig in my garden looking for worms and grubs. Maybe that is why the ticks seem to be decreasing. Thanks!!
laury nichols
there is more to that story about opossums and ticks, yes they did eat ticks when in a cage being observed, just as a dog might snap at and eat flies if that's all to be amused with. And apparently opossums have been found with fully engorged ticks on them. I have not researched to the very bottom of where the original story started, but I've left off wishing I could breed opossums, cute as they are. (I'm a woodcarver and carving an opossum is moving up on my list!)
Slauwkoo
With all the idiots in government trying to push their demonic trans garbage down everyone's throat, just tell them that your Guinea Hens self identify as leghorn hens or whatever is legal in your area. If they want to play that game then you should be able to also.
Heather
Are you saying governments are "pushing" trans people on the public (they are not), or that they're pushing the garbage idea that trans people are demonic?
Susan
After reading this, I am never going outside again…ever. OMG!
Bless you, Mary.
Sherri
I got a removal method off fb. You squirt liquid hand soap on a damp qtip and then run the qtip in a circular motion around the tick (like he is in the middle of a bubbly tornado) for about 30 seconds. It works! I have removed one from myself and my dog with this method no worry about leaving the head as they quickly let go and back out.
Meg Cundiff
Yes. I do this too! I just put a dollop of liquid soap over the tick and let it sit a minute or 2, then they loosen their mighty grip and come off head and all!! Also i powder puff my legs /belly etc with sulfer from the hardware storr before i head out and this deters them from venturing up my legs and body. Kansas meg
Leslie
You can also put a dog’s flea and tick collar around your pants legs.
Don’t put them on your bare skin as it will blister your skin. This is
a trick I learned from my brother in law when he went hunting.
Kat - the other 1
Stupid question, if it blisters our skin, what about the pets we expect to wear them???
Cathy
I once a cat who developed an abscess under a flea and tick collar. The first time it happened, I thought it was from a scratch or bite from another cat until I saw another abscess on his neck. The collar was supposed to be effective for 6 months so I guess the medication was too strong and caused an allergic reaction. This happened way back in the 90's when topical flea and tick treatments were first available and fortunately, he was fine with it.
Celeste Williams
While trying to save my oakleaf hydrangea from suffocation by wisteria, I must have stepped into a nest of nymph deer ticks. The area is at the edge of a wooded (and wisteria filled) part of the property. Luckily, I spotted one on my foot later. Before it was over, I had picked over 40 off of my legs and only one had attached. How can something so small cause such an intense itching??? Tell me that! Of course, my doc prescribed an antibiotic as preventative. From now on, oakleaf is on its own.
Would that be a township of ticks or tangle of ticks?
Jan in Waterdown
A tyranny of ticks!
Celeste Williams
You're not kidding. They are a tyranny township tangle of ticks...sorta like a murder of crows.
Tina
Good timing for me! I just got out after 6 days in the ICU. It wasn’t enough to be out in a Covid hot spot, I was apparently a lunch snack for a pesky tick. If that wasn’t bad enough, the tick gave me anaplasmosis. I’m diabetic so that triggered Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Long story short, after a week sick at home, they took me to the hospital where I didn’t die. And I made it out and back to my troll hole without catching Covid. Whoopee!
Kirstin Jacques
So glad you made it!
Stay safe. <3
billy sharpstick
The tick season in Florida is starting hot and heavy this year. I have a tick key, but the slot is too wide. My favorite tool is the tick twister. The small version has a nice thin slot that has always worked, even on young ones.
I also am adding MSM, a sulfur compound, that is relatively tasteless to me and my cat's food. It is supposed to make us taste bad to ticks and fleas.
Cathy
I guess that is why I don't find ticks on my horse even though I live in a wooded area in the mountains of PA. I use MSM for older horses as a joint supplement. I was thinking about trying for myself to help with my arthritis knees so now I have another reason to take it as well.
Loribeth Kowalski
I contracted Lyme disease in May here in Ohio. Luckily I developed a rash exactly 10 days after removing the ticks. Yeah, two of them. Got straight in to the doctor and got 10 days of Doxy. Keeping my fingers crossed that nipped it in the bud.