A hand held device for removing ticks that are fixed to the skin of an animal or human host and comprises a housing oriented along a longitudinal axis, a tick encapsulation zone at the front end of the housing employing an openable and closable lid section capable of closing around the tick while the tick is attached to the skin of the host. A piezoelectric voltage generation device is located within the housing and activated by a striker to send a high voltage through two lead wires having their distal ends mounted within the tick encapsulation zone in gapped relationship. A trigger is mounted along an axis tangential to the longitudinal axis for triggering the piezoelectric device to send a high voltage across the electrode gap to electrocute the tick. The electrocuted tick automatically becomes detached from the host's skin and falls into the closed encapsulation zone of the device.
