system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why does peppermint oil repel ticks?

I saw a video recently of someone pouring peppermint oil on a tick that was biting them and it stopped within seconds and started squirming around. I tried googling this but all I get are a bunch of websites promoting "natural repellents" instead of answering why it works.
gpt
Menthol is potent stuff.  If you get peppermint oil on your skin, it can definitely burn sensitive tissues.

Now imagine being immersed in the stuff- like a bath of the hottest hot sauce ever.
Yeah, that's what that tick is going thru.

Beekeepers use menthol to control mites in bee hives.  The fumes kill microscopic tracheal mites and tend to confuse or stun larger varroa mites so they fall off the 🐝. 

Essential oils are potent compounds produced by plants to have effects on insects and animals.   Concentrate it into an oil many times stronger than that found in nature and you've got some potentially wicked stuff.