In Reply to: removing ticks posted by chases on Sunday, 18. July 2004 at 23:18 Bali Time:
The safest way I've found is to smother the tick with vaseline (petroleum jelly), leave it for ten minutes, and then pull it off with tweezers. Make sure to get the tweezers under the head or you will leave the head behind.
This method stops the tick from pumping in toxins - something it does (understandably) when it is poked with hot needles, squeezed to within an millimetre of its life, or half drowned in fly spray.
Of course, if you don't have ten minutes to spare while the little sucker suffocates, you might have to risk one of the alternatives.