grasp them and crush between fingers
When it comes to crushing, would you agree these guys are really fun and games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoptena_cervi . You really have to tear them apart with your fingernails, or crush them between two 9V batteries as they are so tough and... gummy.
I would rather pet a tarantula –– and I do have slight arachnophobia –– that deal with those darn squirmy obstinate tough
things.
Those who do not know, these are a type of fly that drop their wings and burrow under the skin of various types of deer, elk, and moose. They do not usually bite humans, but when they do, the allergic reaction can be very severe. Typically, you don't mind them much, unless one happens to bite; the next summer and autumn and after that, you will be damn quick to remove them when they land on you. I classify them more annoying and worse than
hybomitra horse flies, which literally bite a hole in your skin, with the bite easily getting inflamed. (However, I do consider
simuliidae and especially
ceratopogonidae worse, because at 1-2mm they can get through netting, like to crawl through tight spaces like inside your socks, and also bite very painfully. The
ceratopogonidae bite is like being poked with a very hot needle.)
Lipoptena cervi is also the pest that will end reindeer herding in Nordic countries in the next few decades. Reindeer are already at their limit, it being too warm (too many parasites, actually) for them during the summertime. Lipoptena cervi has slowly crept North in Finland, and has now reached the southernmost limit of the reindeer region; it is guaranteed to push the parasitic load on reindeer over the limit, so that large-scale reindeer herding (currently 200,000 - 300,000 in Northern Finland alone) will become unfeasible. The much smaller size of the Nordic reindeer compared to Siberian reindeer due to the largest bucks being neutered and used for pulling sleds does not help, either: it leads to a larger skin to body ratio, and thus smaller resistance against cutaneous and subcutaneous parasites.
I personally grew up well north of the region where lipotena cervi is found. My first summer in the Åland Archipelago with ticks (ixodes ricinus) carrying tick borne encephalitis, with lots of lipoptena cervi landing in your hair, was
fun but also
scary. At least I'm basically immune to Puumala haemorrhagic fever (spread by aerosolized bank vole droppings when sweeping) due to genetic heritage, like most ethnic Finns are!