Whats Ticking Out There

The other day I was hiking at the end of Elk Lane to place a cache. I was out there about 20 minutes and one of the little buggers go me.
The funny part was I was on a 15 feet wide dirt road almost the hole time.
I walked through a about a 50 foot wooded area, and that must of when it got me.
I have lived in Oregon about 40 years now,(boy thats a long time) and up till last year, I think I have only had about 2 tick bite me.
Last year, 2007, I got bit 4 times, and here it is February and I have 1 bit already.
Age must be making me sweeter, LOL.
Snow or rain or sun it doesn't matter, the littles things seem to get me.
I looked up ticks on wikiendia to see what was ticking.
It seem the more deer there is the more ticks there is, we need to hunt more deer, I guess.
And of course the more deer, the more ticks and more Rock Mt. Fever and Lyme disease show up in areas with high deer counts.
The Animal Rights people, got fool with this one.
So I copied and pasted the does and don't of tick removing.

I have to say I learn something by reading this.
What are parents and grand parents told use may not have been right.
The does in Green.
The don't in Red.

Removal

To remove a tick use a small set of tweezers: grab the head, pulling slowly and steadily.[6]. There are a number of manufacturers that have produced tweezers specifically for tick removal. Crushing or irritating the tick (by heat or chemicals) should be avoided, because these methods may cause it to regurgitate its stomach contents into the skin, increasing the possibility of infection of the host.[7] Tiny larval ticks can usually be removed using a special tick remover [8]. Lyme disease found in deer ticks cannot be transmitted once the body is removed even if the mouth parts break off and are still in the skin. Prompt removal is important; infection generally takes an extended period of time, over 24 hours for Lyme disease.

The rostrum of a tick (the mouth-parts that are planted in the skin) is fully covered with spikes that are implanted backwards. If you pull upon the tick, these spikes will rise and the "head" of the tick will break and stay in the skin, causing pain and infection. On the other hand, if you turn the body of the tick (like unscrewing), the spikes will fold into the axis of rotation, and the head will detach easily.( was told to turn counter cockwise,LOL)

It is essential not to compress the abdomen of a tick during the removal, to minimize the risk of saliva back-flow; this back-flow into the skin can lead to allergic manifestations and to transmission of tick-borne microorganisms. Tweezers and other similar instruments exert a pressure on the digestive tract of the tick

Tick hooks are effectives tools designed to remove ticks from the skin of animals and people, without leaving the mouth-parts of the tick planted in the skin, without compressing the abdomen of the ticks, minimizing the transfer of infectious agents (Lyme's disease, babesiosis...) [9]

An alternative method used by fishermen, which does not risk squeezing the tick's thorax, uses 18 inches of fine weight fishing line. The line is tied in a simple overhand knot that is tightened slowly around the tick's head. If the line is pressed against the skin while being gently pulled, the knot will tighten around the tick's head. Slowly pulling the ends of the line will then dislodge the tick from the bite site with a reduced chance of leaving the head attached. This method also works with sewing thread.

It is commonly claimed that petroleum jelly placed on the tick will clogs the animal's breathing passages and cause it to de-attach itself. However, many medical authorities advise against this and other "smothering" approaches as ticks only breathe a few times per hour and feeding may thus continue for some time, and because these approaches may irritate the tick to the point of regurgitation of bacteria into the bloodstream.[10];[11];[12];[13];[14]

As stated in information about ether's Anesthetic use [15]
"Ether may be used to anesthetize ticks before removing them from an animal or a person's body. The anesthesia relaxes the tick and prevents it from maintaining its mouthpart under the skin."