How To Dispose of a Tick the Safe Way

As summer kicks into full gear, ticks start coming out for a meal. Whether they find your ankles while you walk through a field or latch on to your hair as you duck under a branch, finding and removing a tick requires safely disposing of it. While many methods on how to dispose of a tick exist, learn the best ways to deal with ticks from New Jersey’s tick control service.

Why Is It Important To Dispose of a Tick Safely?

Searching the internet turns up multiple ways to dispose of a tick, but not every method considers the risk of infection after a tick bites you. Lyme disease is one of the most common concerns, but some tick bites can make you allergic to red meats or infect you with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Instead of finding out months after a tick bite that you’ve contracted a disease, you can save yourself from advanced symptoms by presenting your doctor with the tick that bit you.

This requires following safe disposal methods that keep the tick from biting again while preserving its body for potential inspection.

How Not To Dispose of a Tick

Before learning how to dispose of a tick correctly, let’s look at the common incorrect ways you might encounter when researching what to do.

The Crushing Method

Crushing a tick won’t necessarily kill it. These pests can move quickly, escaping your crushing tools and potentially latching on to you, a family member, or a pet within a short amount of time.

The Microwave Method

Some tick victims place the offender in a plastic bag and microwave it. While this will kill the tick, if the plastic bag doesn’t seal properly beforehand, you might end up with tick innards and blood on your microwave plate.

The Catch-and-Release Method

While it sounds humane, catching a tick and releasing it on a far-off property only perpetuates the problems it might cause. A tick released will likely breed, causing new generations of ticks that also breed.

How To Safely Dispose of a Tick

Two effective methods exist to disable the tick’s ability to bite while saving its body for inspection in the event symptoms show up. First, use clean tweezers to remove the tick from your skin. Next, use one of the following two methods to preserve the tick:

Place in a Sealed Container

Upon removal, place the tick in a plastic bag and seal it or use an old medicine bottle as a container.

Stick to an Index Card

Place the tick on a piece of tape, then stick that tape to an index card and write the date on it.

Symptoms could take several months to appear. Doctors can test the saved tick to know which type of antibiotic treatment you’ll best respond to.

Prepare Your Yard With Anti-tick Defense From Nada Mosquito in New Jersey

While knowing how to dispose of a tick is important, pest control can protect you from common diseases from tick bites. Call Nada Mosquito for quick and effective tick yard treatments in New Jersey by calling (732) 743-7129.