Katlaughing suggests smothering ticks with Vaseline. I've never tried that and I don't know if it works. Generally, we just pull the suckers out quickly and straight, and that works.
Back in the Good Old Days, the Boy Scout Handbook suggested Vaseline, and one other remedy - you were supposed to light a match, blow it out, and put the hot matchhead to the tick and make him back out. Well, I lit a match, shook it out, touched it to the tick, and the flame came back and burned all the hair off my leg.....

Back to the drawing board.

-Joe-


Oh, and fireman Dave Swan sent me a PM and suggested that I use Zanfel for poison oak. A tube cost me $40, but it worked! Thanks, Dave - I feel much better.