One of my least favorite creatures of God's Creation is... the tick. OK... I despise any blood sucking creature and generally relish in attempting to kill them with impudence.

Ticks do carry some serious diseases for certain. The tick bite and reaction to salivary secretions can be severe and tick-born diseases include: Tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease. Named for the Connecticut town where it was first diagnosed, Lyme's disease is one that is a serious problem. There are evidently many who actually have Lyme's and are not even aware of it. From what I've read, if you can get the tick off in less than 24 hours then there is not much chance of contracting the disease.

Received this from Vickie today and thought I would pass it on.

Subject: Removal of ticks (BELIEVE IT OR NOT)

Spring will be here soon and the ticks will soon be showing their heads. Here is a good way to get them off you, your children, or your pets. Give it a try.

Please forward to anyone with children... or hunters or dogs, or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!! A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share -- And it really works!!

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for 15-20 seconds. The tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, "It worked!"