Dad reveals odd but possibly brilliant way to reuse pill bottles for ticks: 'Interesting idea'

When it comes to dealing with pests, we all have our limits. For one Redditor, their dad not only got fed up with the number of ticks hanging around their home, but they developed a slightly strange habit to deal with the problem. 

The scoop

In a post to a subreddit dedicated to sharing somewhat peculiar occurrences, one Redditor posted a picture of an odd way that their father disposed of ticks. 

With just a single photo, the original poster stated their dad "keeps a pill bottle with 90% alcohol in it to kill ticks." 

Although it's not entirely clear in the picture included in the post, we can see several tiny objects that appear to be insects floating in a liquid inside an old prescription pill bottle. We can probably safely assume that those minuscule floaters are the unlucky ticks. And from the looks of it, there were well over a dozen of them that had already been collected.  

Since the original poster declined to elaborate on why their father collects the ticks in such an eyebrow-raising way, it's hard to say if he's keeping them for scientific purposes, or just as little trophies. It would also be wasteful to toss the alcohol and bottle each time, though, so the likeliest explanation is that it's just more practical to keep the same bottle around for a while. 

Either way, as weird as it may seem, their dad is actually making good use of available resources to help prevent the spread of disease. 

How it's helping

In general, ticks are mainly considered pests. The tiny creatures have the ability to transmit viruses, bacteria, and pathogens that can lead to disease. Tick bites have been known to cause diseases such as Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, and Powassan virus. 

By trapping and eliminating ticks, not only can we stop the spread of diseases but we can also use dead ticks to help in future identification. As of 2025, there are around 900 species of ticks throughout the world. But when categorized, any species can either be referred to as a hard tick or a soft tick. 

Once identified, collected dead ticks could help in the event of a common disease transmitted by ticks. While all species of ticks pose the danger of disease, specific species often carry a certain set of transmittable diseases to humans.  

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Additionally, by reusing an old pill bottle, the original poster's dad found a useful way to repurpose an object that is usually only designed for a singular use. By recycling or repurposing empty containers, we can help reduce the strain on our landfills and keep our planet cleaner. 

What everyone's saying

While a large number of commenters appeared to have been grossed out by the sight of the tick-filled bottle, many saw the usefulness of it. 

"My grandparents, who lived on a farm, did this and then took them to the Kansas State University (they lived close by) for [the] use for studies every year," one commenter wrote.

One commenter added that they do something similar to the original poster's dad, opting to harvest ticks for scientific use. 

"I do pretty much the same thing," they wrote. "Keep a vial with hand sanitizer in my field vest. Imbedded ones go in a plastic baggie for testing for disease.

Another Redditor was seemingly inspired by the original poster. "I usually squash them, but this is an interesting idea," the user wrote. "I find like 2-3 different kind of ticks in my garden (sadly), I could catalog them."

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