I've heard that coating them with Turpentine or Nail Polish Remover, or Acetone will cause them to "back out". Haven't tried it myself, though.

A hot match head. That is the only way I know of. Yes you get a little burn over the site, but the tick does let go and a little burn is easier to live with than the Fever.

Rose

Use rubbing alcohol or peroxide on the tick,than pull it off will work too.Or get some guinea hens.

Hot match head, pull it out, follow with alcohol or peroxide.

I have read that using a match head is no-longer a recommended method. The reason is based in the thought that the hot match on the tick's body will force the internal fluids of the tick into your blood stream. Increasing the chances of Lyme Diesease etc...

If the match is used not on the tick but near the tick to make it move then that may be different. I don't Know.

The preferred method I read about is to grab with tweesers with out squeezing (see above reason) and gently coax the tick to let go. Then clean the area with alcohol.

I Hate these little Blood Suckers....

Saturate a cotton ball with alcohol and hold it on the tick for several seconds. Then gently pull it out with tweezers. (Cognac works too, but I realize this is a homesteading forum!)

Olive Oil.

Works for me. Gotta be patient, though. The olive oil sufficates the bugger and he will be easy to pull out with tweezers after a few minutes of waiting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Information Dirt Road

For the dog, I have a little plastic gadget that looks like a little spoon with a narrow wedge cut out of the far side of the spoon end. Just slip the wedge under the tick and it gets stuck in there, kind of like pulling a nail with a hammer. and just pull. You probably want to follow up with alchohol or some Neosporin. My problem is that he is sooooo furry, that I have problem getting down to just the tick.
You should be able to find them in the pet section or pet stores.

Take care, Anne-Marie

Here in Conn our hardware stores are carrying a device that has a pair of tweezers and a couple battery's like a pen lite. You simply squeeze the tic with the tweezers while at the same time hitting a button to give the tic a small charge that we cannot feel. This charge jolts the tic making it realse it self from you. Then it is easily removed.Look for them in the hardware store.

As a victim of Lyme disease, I can say that most of the advice here, if used, can get you into trouble. If you squeeze, smother, or in any way mess with a tick, you are courting any one of the several nasty tick borne diseases. The little spoon device is the right way to go, or something called the tick lifter. YOu need to get under the body, between the mouthparts which are buried in your flesh and the round part with the legs, and pull straight out.

You DON'T need to worry about leaving the mouthparts in your body. At most they will cause a local infection. You DO want to avoid Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever, Lyme, erlichiois, relapsing fever, etc. When the tick is bothered in any way, it will pull out, but it will also regurgitate its gut contents into you, with all the nasties. I learned the hard way--twice.

vmperkins is DEFINITELY right. Best advice. You can also save the tick and have it tested. If you have a rash or feel dizzy or nauseaus soon after it's not good. Some counties will test the ticks, if not Igenix labs will. Put it in a jar with a peice of moistened cotten. Tick tests are more accurate than human tests. STARI or Masters disease is the southern version of lyme- tests out differently, and Montana and Wyoming have another variation that is not named yet. It shows faintly on the lyme tests. etc etc.

Knowing what I know now about lyme I would personally test any tick that was embeded, especially if it was squished or on there a few hours.

If by chance you do get sick it's best to do your own research on this and deal with it ASAP. You don't want it.

Here in the Ozark woods , picking ticks off is a daily job . If you saved everyone you pick off you'd have quite a collection!!!!
As for my husband and I , we use tweezers , then we put triple-antibiotic on the spot where the tick was .
So far tick related diseases are rare here .
I've lived here 26 years and do not personally know anyone who has had a severe reaction to them .But I do know it happens , but rarely , as I said before .
Frankly , I can tolerate the ticks much better than I can the chiggers .At least I can SEE the ticks !!!!

I use the hemostats from my fishing tackle box to reach the ticks in the dog's ears. Otherwise, we just grab the little nasties and pull them off. Toss them in a jar of water til they drown.

We've had good luck with the Revolution drops on the dog. Those get rid of ticks, fleas, mites, etc. etc. A few drops at the beginning of the month and that usually solves the problem. Near the end of the month, though, and if there's a tick infestation going on, then we will have to pull ticks off the dog.

I also put sevrin dust in a shaker jar and shake that over areas in the yard where ticks might be. It gets rid of the rose beetles as well as the ticks.

The best way of removing ticks is to prevent them from going on your dog in the first place. Adams spot on from Pet Edge.com is inexpensive and keeps the buggers off for around a month. I have been pulling off ticks for years using a tweezer under the body and pulling out slowly. Then I flush or burn the tick.