Ticks

[borderbob]

Twenty years ago it was rare for the dugs to pick up ticks here in the Borders and only picked them up when travelling up north/west.
Now come the end of March we can pick off a dozen a day.Dipping or lack of it is blamed. But I will say that none of the dugs have suffered . And we twist them out ,it doesn't matter either clockwise or anti 

[Bobfly]

The wee tick removal tweezer things from the vets have an anti-clockwise instruction arrow on them so maybe ticks are maybe more easily wound out that direction. Years ago I just used to pull them straight out but a bit of head always got left  !!

[Fishtales]

No need to twist or you might twist the mouth parts off and leave them embedded.

Nice video I found

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/science/earth/how-does-a-tick-do-its-dirty-work-research-video-offers-a-clue.html?_r=0

[emc]

Only twist if you are using a Tom O'Tick removal tool, otherwise a straight pull with a pair of very fine tweezers as near to the mouthparts as you can get. There was some research done back in 2006 where T o'T was found to be the best. [Veterinary Record (2006, 159, 526-5290]
Mind you research is not always necessarily correct........

There are some tics only experienced barmaids should be allowed to remove.

Is there a register of such barmaids, willing to accompany wild fishers into the wilds of Scotland.

[Colliemore]

Our vet recommended twisting and said it was because of the mouth parts

[Inchlaggan]

Is there a register of such barmaids, willing to accompany wild fishers into the wilds of Scotland.

After considerable research the answer is no. Such services are not listed. There was once a barmaid at my local hotel who, it eventually became known, offered a considerable range of "Room Services" to moneyed Gentlemen anglers. When this became known, she was sacked with the memorable line that "she had more suck than the Dyson".

[Midgie Hater]

The turn this thread has taken reminds me of a visit to the Bridge of Orchy Hotel about 15 years ago. I could tell you - but then i'd have to kill you

[Part-time]

I find the O Tom tick remover works best and always use it by rotating it anticlockwise - I heard the same that its to do with the way a ticks mouthparts work. It absolutely NOT recommended (I'm told you can get lymes just by touching a tick) but in the past I have removed ticks by just gently rubbing them round and round anti clockwise with my finger for a minute or two.

[Hill loch gold]

I think i had better buy a tick removal tool before i go to torridon in 5weeks. I see part-time recommending 1 there. Any other recommendations, or will any tick removal tool do?

[Midgie Hater]

She is on the register

I was over age at the time

Anyway, the thing about OTom is that all the examples they show on their site feature reasonably sizeable tics. How effective is it with the smallest ones, i.e those you notice early? I would have thought a tool like that would be difficult to deploy on them until they become a bit more bloated, and yet surely the sooner you extract them the better? For me it's been a pair of small tweezers. That said I've had a small number of extraction failures since they started bothering me, but still (I think) managed to get the rest out with some persistence, pain and blood-letting.