It’s been a crazy year for ticks. Everyone I know that lives on the east coast are talking about how many ticks they have already encountered. Dog owners especially have had to remove several from their pets, and it’s only spring! Kids love to get out and run through the tall grass, roll around on lawns, and climb trees, but parents are afraid they’ll get ticks, so what to do?

I don’t like the idea of spraying my child everyday with poisons like DEET. I mean, I’m trying to protect them from ticks, but I don’t want to put toxic chemicals on their skin either. My family found a great all natural tick repellent formula using white vinegar and essential oil of peppermint.

I also found a few tick removal tools for sale. I found a spring action Coghlan’s Tick Remover claw tweezers in a camping store, and the spoon shaped Ticked Off tick removal tool I found in the pet isle at the grocery store. I got one for our pet, and one for our family.

So far only the dog and I have picked up a tick. I was unlucky enough to have found a teeny weeny deer tick on my chest the morning after stacking up some fire wood. I had the tell tale bulls eye ring form around the bite, and I was sick with migraine and flu like symptoms for over a week. I zapped and got better. I made a short video about my tick experience to share with others what worked for me.

I have read a lot of testimonials about people with Lyme Disease who zapped and found relief, so I was glad to have a Hulda Clark Zapper. I didn’t have a tick removal tool then, so it inspired me to buy several. Our regular tweezers really didn’t work well when I tried to remove my tick. I like the spoon shaped one that has a groove that slits the spoon down the middle, and suggest everyone to keep one on hand, just in case.

I suggest if you are in an area known for having ticks, carry a tick removal tool with you because getting the tick out as soon as possible is very important. Getting the tick out intact is just as important, so the spoon tool does the trick applying even pressure lifting the tick up and away from the body.

The idea of having such an evil parasite oozing deadly bacteria into our body really freaks me out. I’m a health nut, and I don’t want my child or family suffering needlessly. These tick removal tools are cheap, and the best insurance I could have on getting those suckers safely out of our life if we have the misfortune of finding them during our travels into the great outdoors. I hope to never need it, but if I do, I’ll be glad I have it.