Preventing Tick Bites

There are some very simple steps you can take to minimise the risk of getting bitten by a tick. In the United States the deer tick is known to carry Lyme disease whereas in Europe Lyme is commonly associated with the sheep or castor bean tick (ixodes ricinus). Ticks can target any bird or animal ranging from mice, ground feeding birds, hedgehogs, farm animals, pets, deer & humans. Vigilance is needed in wooded or tall grassy areas where ticks may reside.

  • Wear long sleeved t-shirts and trousers when out.
  • Tuck your trousers into socks or boots and tuck shirts into trousers to minimise the chance of ticks getting to exposed skin.
  • Wear light coloured clothing to make any attached ticks easier to spot.
  • Check yourself and children every couple of hours for attached ticks.
  • Apply insect repellant with 20%-30% DEET to any exposed skin.
  • Can also apply Permethrin to clothing (do not apply directly to skin) which can be bought in camping or hunting shops.
  • Avoid wooded areas with tall grass and try to stay in the centre of trails to avoid tree branches, leaves and long grass where ticks usually lie in wait for an unsuspecting victim to brush past.
  • Once home check your entire body for ticks. Important areas to check are behind the ears, inside the outer ear, under the arms, behind knees, the trunk of the body and the scalp.

For tips on reducing the number of ticks in your garden or immediate vicinity see veterinarian Lawrence Swift’s suggestions at the bottom of this page.

References and Further Reading

Safe Tick Removal

If you are unfortunate enough to be bitten by a tick and it remains attached to the skin then follow these simple steps to get it out safely. Alternatively consider buying a Tick Twister (learn more below), designed especially for removing ticks. It is important to remove a tick gently leaving the tick and its mouthparts intact. Squeezing too hard can cause the tick to regurgitate fluid containing bacteria for Lyme disease among other infections. It is important to note that the use of heat, alcohol, petroleum jelly or fingernail polish on an embedded tick is not effective.

  • Using thin tweezers grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull upwards with a steady even pressure.
  • Don’t twist or jerk the tick as the mouth parts may become detached and remain in the skin.
  • Pull firmly enough to raise the skin and hold at this position steadily. (See picture below)
  • When the tick is detached seal in a plastic bag and place in the freezer. If you should develop any flu like symptoms or get a rash go straight to your GP and take the tick with you.
  • After removing the tick wash your hands and the affected area with soap and water and apply an antiseptic cream.
DOs & DON’Ts

DO: remove the tick gently with fine tipped tweezers or a tick twister ensuring you keep the twister/tweezers as close to the skin as possible. This helps to remove the mouth parts as well as the body.

DO: use an antiseptic wipe in the bite area to prevent secondary infection from germs.

DO: place the tick in a Ziploc bag & record the date it was removed. Look out vigilantly for symptoms including an expanding rash or summertime flu. Remember that the rash may take weeks to develop, so keep checking over the course of several weeks.

DON’T: squeeze the body of the tick or use fingernails as the tick may burst causing more risk of infection.

DON’T: use flames, methylated spirits or Vaseline on the tick. This causes great discomfort & may cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents, where all the Lyme bacteria may be hiding.

Download our handy Tick Removal Card here.

TICK TWISTERS

The O’TOM / TICK TWISTER® is an effective tool for removing attached ticks on humans or animals. You get 2 Twisters in a pack (one big, one small).

 

The advantages of using the O’Tom / Tick Twister® are:

  • It doesn’t leave the tick’s mouth-parts in the skin
  • It doesn’t squeeze the tick’s abdomen
  • It removes ticks of any size
  • It removes ticks from animals and people
    It doesn’t need any chemical products (alcohol, ether,…)
  • It enables a quick and painless tick removal
  • It is unbreakable, hardwearing and indefinitely reusable

How To Use Your Tick Twister

  1. Choose the most suitable hook according to the size of the tick. twister1
  2. Engage the hook by approaching the tick from the side until it is held. twister2
  3. Lift the hook very lightly and turn it. The tick detaches by itself after 2 or 3 rotations.

Bite Prevention Tips

Suggested by vet Lawrence Swift and reproduced with his permission

Here are some measures to reduce the tick population, without toxic insecticides.

Ticks desiccate easily, especially the younger forms. They need a high humidity to survive and breed. Obviously warm wet weather doesn’t help us. Here’s a few suggestions –

Keep all grass short. Not just the lawns – I’m talking about the long grass at the edges, in hedges, and under or against fencing. A good strimmer is your friend here. By short I mean lawn height, 1/2 inch from the ground.

Watch all vegetation beside paths etc. Long leaves dangling over the walkways can provide ticks with somewhere to hang on, to wait for their next victim. No leaf should overhang a path. Then keep to the paths yourself.

Prune back hedges & trees that might shade areas of the garden from direct sunlight. Sunshine will help dry out the grass & other vegetation.

Ticks will come into your garden as parasites on hedgehogs, and other small animals. Obviously you want to keep friendly with the local hedghog population – they keep down the slugs & snails. As do the frogs & toads. It’s called biological control, and avoids using poisons. So if you find a hedgehog, try & examine him for ticks. He may have some. Handle him gently – incredibly, they become tame to handle in a few minutes. If he has ticks, give him a spray of Frontline* (see note below before applying frontline) from your vet’s. Maybe keep him in a cardboard box overnight with a saucer of cat food – the ticks should fall off. Don’t do this in mid-summer, it may be a female with babes to feed.

If your garden is walled securely so that small animals can’t get in, you shouldn’t have much problem with ticks, but you could try keeping a few of the larger quail or the very small bantams. These critters are fantastic at eating houseflies off the wall. And all other undesirable creepy-crawlies. [PS only if you don’t have cats!]

*Use Frontline™ Flea spray from the Vets. But be careful! Never spray it onto the Hedgehog! It is safe to be used on Hedgehogs, but it can cause severe breathing problems when breathed in or absorbed through the skin. This can kill a Hedgehog!

*The safest way to use it is to spray it into a medicine cup about ½ ml to 1 ml.

*Then you can use a cotton wool bud to wipe a tiny bit of the spray onto the Tick. This will ensure that none of the Frontline will get onto the Hedgehog.

Above all, keep safe – sleep tight and don’t let the tick bugs bite!!