How to Prevent and Remove Ticks

How to Prevent and Remove Ticks

Summary: Ticks are an infamous summer pest because we spend more time outside. This blog explains the tick removal process for both humans and pets, then discusses the risk of contracting Lyme disease. It ends with prevention tips. Pointe Pest Control solves pest issues as efficiently as possible.

Before we talk about ticks, we have a fun announcement involving another bloodsucking pest (yes, it’s actually fun). Tate and Shelley, two of our amazing specialists from our Indiana branch, returned to the Indy Now lifestyle show on Fox59 to share more pest knowledge! They discussed the importance of personalized pest control, explained the MosquitoCon treatment system, and played a fun game of mosquito trivia.

Enjoy the video! If you missed their first segment on termite control, you can check it out here.

If there’s one season that prioritizes outdoor activities, it’s summer. Hiking, biking, fishing, walking, swimming, picnicking, and boating are all fun ways to spend the warmest months of the year. However, these activities also put us right in the heart of pest territory.

Specifically, ticks hide in tall grass and brush while they wait for a host to walk close enough for them to hitch a ride. Before you head out for some summer fun, it’s helpful to know the best practices for tick prevention and removal. Let’s get started!

Tick Removal for Humans

If you find a tick on yourself or a loved one, the first step is to stay calm. This is one of the slowest-moving pests around, so you don’t have to worry about it running away in the time it takes you to prepare. And prepare you should!

You will need a few materials. The first is a set of clean fine-point tweezers. Regular tweezers can also work, but fine-point tweezers are more precise. The second is a pair of nitrile disposable gloves to protect your hands. The third is rubbing alcohol or soap and water to clean the site once the tick is removed.

Once you have your materials and are in a clean, well-lit environment (like the bathroom), it’s time to begin:

1. Using the tweezers, carefully grab the tick as close to the skin’s surface as you can. Don’t squeeze the tick’s body because it will release all of the blood and bacteria inside.
2. Slowly pull the tick out with steady pressure. Pull it straight out without twisting or angling it. Try to get the tick’s mouthparts as well. If they’re too embedded in the skin, leave them and allow the person’s body to naturally expel them.
3. Dispose of the tick with your method of choice. You can enclose it in a zip-top plastic bag, put it in a cup of rubbing alcohol, or flush it down the toilet. If you want to be cautious, take a photo of the tick beforehand in case you need to show your doctor later.
4. Clean the bite with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. The site will be red at first, but it should heal soon. If it’s still irritated after a few days, please see your doctor immediately.

We strongly advise you to never use DIY methods for tick removal. Nail polish, petroleum jelly, heat, and soap won’t remove ticks as effectively as tweezers do.

Tick Removal for Pets

The tick removal process for dogs and cats is largely the same as the process for humans. The main difference is that our pets (unfortunately) can’t understand our explanations of what’s going on, so they may be wary or confused. If your dog or cat is too restless for you to safely remove the tick, do not continue. Take them to the vet for safe removal.

If you use the tweezer method as described in the previous section, follow all of the steps in the same manner with two changes. One is that your pet will need to stay as still as possible. Distract them with a chew toy or another person petting them throughout the process. The second is that you should clean the site with pet-friendly soap

Tick removal hooks are good tools for pet tick removal. If you use a hook, you’ll want to twist the hook as you remove the tick. This is opposite of the tweezer method, where you pull the tick straight out.

Make sure you got the whole tick by parting the fur and inspecting your pet’s skin. Also, monitor your furry friend for new symptoms over the next couple of weeks. If they have a fever, loss of appetite, lethargy, joint pain, or skin issues, take them to the vet immediately.

How Do We Get Ticks?

After talking about tick removals, you may be wondering how we get ticks in the first place. After all, they can’t fly or run, so they have to be strategic. Ticks hide in tall, thick grass and plants. When a mammal brushes against the tick, it can crawl on and move to a patch of exposed skin.

Ticks start out 1/8 of an inch long, then become engorged after they feed. That’s why they’re easier to see after feeding for a while. Nymphs feed for 3 to 4 days, while adults feed for 3 to 10 days. After feeding, they drop off their host and hide to digest their meal. Female ticks lay thousands of eggs after one feeding.

Ticks are more populous from spring through fall because they thrive in hot weather. The most common ticks we see in Illinois are brown dog ticks, American dog ticks, black-legged deer ticks, and Lone Star ticks. Tick bites are risky because of one key factor: their saliva.

Tick-Borne Diseases

After a tick feeds on an infected mammal, that bacteria can be transmitted to its next host through its saliva. The tick needs to feed for at least 24 hours in order to pass along the bacteria. Although female ticks can’t pass the pathogens on to their eggs, tick larvae and nymphs that have the pathogens will keep them for the rest of their lives.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease by a wide margin. Transmitted by the deer tick, Lyme disease can take 7 to 21 days (or more) after the infected bite to show symptoms. The most common symptoms include a bullseye rash around the bite, fever, fatigue, soreness, and headaches.

If you have any of these symptoms with a tick bite, please see your doctor immediately. Most cases of Lyme disease that are caught in the early stages are curable with antibiotics. The longer that it goes untreated, the higher your risk of having lasting health effects.

How to Prevent Ticks in Your Home

Since ticks don’t invade in huge groups (looking at you, ants), tick prevention focuses on lowering your risk of picking one up.

The best ways to make sure you don’t have ticks on your body or in your yard are:

• Check for ticks after outdoor activities — After being outside for a while, do a tick check before going indoors. Pay close attention to the neck, back, arms, legs, and hair.

• Wear long clothes outside — Wear a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and closed-toe shoes if you’re spending a lot of time in grassy or wooded areas.

• Do the laundry — Don’t let clothing you wore outside go too long without getting washed. If you find a tick on your clothing, wash and dry the infested item on high heat to kill it.

• Use tick repellent — Repellents with permethrin can be used on skin, clothing, and camping items (like sleeping bags). Repellents with DEET is best used only on skin, besides the face.

• Maintain the yard — Keep the plants and shrubs trimmed throughout the warmer seasons. Mow the lawn regularly to prevent it from becoming the ideal tick habitat.

How to Prevent Ticks on Your Pet

This section is all about protecting our furry friends!

In conjunction with the methods we listed in the last section, these are great ways to prevent ticks from infesting your dog or cat:

• Check for ticks daily — This is especially important if your pet lives mostly outside. Part its fur to check for ticks hidden on its head, neck, ears, feet, and folds.

• Consult with your vet — If you don’t already have flea & tick protection in place, talk with your vet about what would be best for your pet. Collars, ointments, and oral medication are common methods.

• Give them baths — Baths keep your pet clean and provide an easy way to check them for ticks. Use a flea comb afterwards to check for hidden fleas and ticks.

• Inspect their bed/blankets — Your pet’s bedding can harbor hidden pests, so check the folds and crevices for fleas and ticks often. Wash and dry their bedding as needed.

• Monitor for new symptoms — As you likely do already, monitor your pet for new symptoms. If they start having no appetite, a lethargic demeanor, or constant scratching, take them to the vet immediately.

Keep Pests Out of Your Life with Pointe!

Summer is the most active season for creepy-crawlies, so you need pest protection that’s actually reliable. Pointe Pest Control provides this by solving every pest issue with complete care and efficiency. Our licensed technicians create a customized treatment plan for every customer because we believe pest control isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” process.

We use Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This strategy uses a combination of treatments and methods to reduce the amount of chemicals used in each service. We would love to keep your home safely pest-free this year. Contact us for a free quote on our efficient services today!

Citations

Common ticks. (n.d.). Illinois Department of Health. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/environmental-health-protection/structural-pest-control/common-ticks.html

Haupt, A. (2025, May 30). The best and worst way to remove a tick. TIME. Available at https://time.com/7290072/how-to-remove-tick/ (Accessed on June 12, 2025).

How Lyme disease spreads. (2024, September 24). CDC Lyme Disease. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/causes/index.html

How to remove a tick (2024, June 3). HealthyChildren.org. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/from-insects-animals/Pages/how-to-remove-a-tick.aspx

How to remove a tick from your dog. (n.d.). Purina. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.purina.co.nz/articles/dogs/health/parasites/removing-a-tick-from-dog

Lyme disease. (n.d.). Penn Medicine. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.pennmedicine.org/conditions/lyme-disease

Removing ticks: The dos and don’ts. (2025, April 29). Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.chop.edu/news/health-tip/removing-ticks-dos-and-don-ts

What to do after a tick bite. (2025, April 28). CDC Ticks. Retrieved June 12, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/after-a-tick-bite/index.html