Killing and Disposing of Ticks: 5 Safe Ways

Since ticks can transmit various diseases, the bloodsuckers must be removed from the body. After that, however, it is not enough to simply dispose of the arachnids; you have to kill them beforehand.

Ticks

Ticks (Ixodida) form an order in the class of arachnids (Arachnida). There are around 1,000 worldwide Tick ​​species known. Most of the species, around 80 percent, belong to the family of tick ticks (Ixodidae). This includes u. a. the common wood tick (Ixodes ricinus), which, in addition to wild animals and domestic animals, also prefers humans as hosts.

Kill in the house

Ticks can be killed indoors, as the various methods are deadly for arachnids, but harmless to humans.

Mechanical methods

If the tick has been removed successfully with tweezers or tick tweezers, the size of the arachnids makes it a good idea to crush them between the fingers or fingernails. In no case should you do this, as crushing will release pathogens. Nor should the shoe heel be used, as this is often not enough to destroy the hard shield of the arthropod.

Adhesive tape

Using an adhesive strip is an effective way to kill the tick:

• Catch the tick with the tape
• fix completely with it
• Dispose of in household waste

paper

This effective method of killing requires paper and a jar or other hard object. Proceed as follows:

• Place the tick on the paper with the tweezers or the tick pliers
• fold up once ("close")
• move the lid or bottom of the screw jar firmly over the paper (cracking noise)
• Dispose of the crushed wooden trestle together with the pad in the household waste

Note: Be careful not to come into contact with the tick secretions. Should this happen, you should wash your hands immediately and then disinfect them.

Burn

If you burn it, you have the guarantee that the tick will not survive. However, you should be careful that she cannot escape the fire. It is therefore recommended to hold the wooden trestle directly in the flame of a lighter.

Alternatively, you can put the animal on a fireproof surface and finally set it on fire. An extremely brute tip is to shower the tick with lighter fluid beforehand. In this case, you should take appropriate fire protection measures.

With liquids

In addition to killing them by mechanical means, you can also drown the ticks.

water

The most obvious liquid to drown the arthropod is water. However, the cool water is only conditionally suitable for killing arachnids, as they can stay in the water for up to three weeks If they can survive, they can also survive being flushed down the toilet and may even be able to survive again crawl out.

It is also not advisable to wash the arachnids in the washing machine, because they can easily survive a wash cycle at 40 degrees including a spin. Some specimens should also withstand temperatures of 60 to 90 degrees in the dryer or the washing mine.

The only effective use is to throw the tick into boiling water, because in this it will die after about five minutes. For reasons of hygiene, however, you should not use pots that you use for cooking food.

alcohol

In order for pure alcohol to kill the tick after a few minutes, it should have at least 40 percent. If the liquid is poured into a screw-top jar, you can close it and keep the wooden trestle. In this way, in the event of illness, the animal can be examined to determine the pathogen.

Tip: An alternative to alcohol are chlorine cleaners, disinfectants or Sagrotan.

Ticks in the garden

Although the arachnids are neither able to fly nor cover long distances on foot, they can become uninvited guests in the garden. Because the parasites allow their host animals to carry them over great distances. For example, the arthropods can use the following "travel options":

• Birds
• Hedgehog
• foxes
• Mice

Don't forget your own pet if it's not regularly checked for arachnids. Since many animals use the garden and are difficult to keep from entering, you should take measures that make life more difficult for the wood tick:

• Create barriers out of gravel or wood chips
• Create piles of leaves for beneficial insects in more remote corners
• Regularly remove undergrowth
• race keep short
• density Ground cover do not plant in the immediate vicinity of frequently used garden paths
• Cut back overgrown shrubs regularly (create more sunlight)

Tip: If you find a tick nest in the garden, you can even make it out for the offspring with boiling water.

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