FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for June 15, 2013

so much for a scout

I took 2 ticks off my dog yesterday.

jason, if you want those things, live in alaska or canada.

The tick is clocking…

Wimp!

The method I have successfully used to remove ticks is to put a deflamed matchhead at the head of the tick in an effort to get the insect to retract. Completely crush/destroy the tick with eggs. Do not drop it in the trash.

Jason, you’re hopeless.

No, you don’t need to save it to be examined at all. Burn it or flush it down the toilet. The doctors can tell if you have lyme disease or anything else from blood tests, if not just examining the bite itself. And you don’t need tweezers, ticks aren’t usually embedded in the skin, they’re just attached with a special kind of “glue” they make to attach themselves, much like barnacles to a rock.

Speaking as a Lymie who was not diagnosed until a year and a half after contracting the disease (even after removing the tick and taking it in to the doctor to be examined), I would not respond well to finding a tick on my friend’s arm, either.