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Author :Nascar Campground Network in NASCAR Campground Network

Author: Dale Clary

You HAVE to learn this tick repellant & removal trick before you go camping again
The 1 Weird New Tick Removal Tip You Have to Know Before Heading Out Next Time


Can we take a quick second to consider how disturbing it is that these tiny bugs actually bury their head underneath our skin? Gross! (silently shudders to shake the thought off)

Everyone familiar with the outdoors has been there, or knows someone who has. It happened, you got a tick, or your friend, or your kid.

Every summer you see so many posts online like “How to Remove Ticks” or “Quick & Easy Tick Removal”.
But what if we didn’t have to worry about removing them in the first place and just sprayed the kids down before they went out with a tick repellant?
Heck, we all know how long it could take for a kid to even notice they had a tick depending on where it latches on. And none of us want to even consider what would happen if it gave Lyme disease (30,000 cases/yr according to the CDC) to someone we cared about (or to us!).

Weird Tick Trick from Grandma I wish I knew years ago

Why do we constantly forget and consistently discount wisdom from our elders?
I was sitting at the picnic table at our camp site trying to Google on my phone the best way to remove a tick without having a tweezers. My grandmother walks over from the site next to us, (the tough old woman is 89 and still goes out with us!) curiously eyeballing me with my arm in the air and my neck twisted up looking at it praying for a few bars of service. I explain what I’m doing and right away feel like a bumbling fool when she laughs and shakes her head at me telling how she hasn’t had a tick since 1942. What a silly little boy I must be (I’m 53!).

She said two drops of tea tree oil and the tick would let go and pop right out. Thanks Grandma, but I left my tea tree oil at home. Actually I didn’t have any tea tree oil at home. I didn’t even know what it was. Apparently people have used oils distilled from different plants for thousands of years for an array of different purposes. I didn’t have a clue.

So we wound up using liquid hand soap. Plop a dollop of that on top of the tick and after about 20 seconds they decide it’s time to let go.

But after that she told me how to keep them from latching on in the first place.

Tick repellant is Safe and Easy – Why not keep them from latching onto you in the first place?

Here’s her recipe:
10 drops each of three therapeutic grade essential oils: Palo Santo, Tea Tree, and Peppermint. Add a few drops of Thyme as a bonus to keep even more bugs away. Dilute that with water in a spray bottle (size of a standard water bottle) and you’re good to go. Just spray it on the kids clothes (yours too) and exposed skin before going out and ticks will keep their distance.

Just to cover our bases, this isn’t medical advice, just a old story. Check out what the CDC says about removing ticks HERE. Use tweezers. Get as close to the head of the tick as you can before pulling up and out.

Bonus Tip: If you or your kid does get a tick, save it! Put it in a plastic bag, or a jar, or anything you won’t lose for a few days. Not all ticks carry Lyme disease, but if symptoms pop up you have the tick that can be tested instead of having to go in for a blood test yourself.