Sunday, June 05, 2011

Gray Treefrog

Tried using a tick removal method sent to me via e-mail.  It was one of those e-mails that is passed on from one person to another and has a nebulous source.  This e-mail said to soak a cotton ball in liquid soap and apply it to the tick for around 15 seconds.  The tick would not only let loose but come off w/ the cotton ball!  It made some sense.  Figured ticks were probably like other insects and the soap would clog their breathing capability.  So, after today's slog through the swamp, I got out cotton balls and dish soap and started to work.  When I applied it to a tick that was attached, it just hunkered down.  It definitely did not come away w/ the cotton ball.  I tried it on a tick that was moving.  Again, no luck.  In fact, the ticks (I tried it on more than one) stopped and immediately attached themselves to my skin.  After a few minutes of trying this method, the "ick" factor set in and I just started pulling the little suckers off and throwing them on top of the cotton ball.  The soap didn't have any effect on them.  A good reminder that - just because it's in an e-mail or on the Internet, doesn't mean it's true.

1 comment:

Shelby said...

Here's another method for you to try... When I was very young we went camping with family on my dad's side. My uncle Randy had a tick buried in his shoulder so my aunt took some sort of pin, heated it with a lighter and placed it right on the tick's rear end. It backed itself out of my uncle shoulder and was easily picked off. I'm guessing tick's don't like being burned any more than the rest of us. :-)