Chiggers, A Hard Lesson Learned

[RobertN]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

 

[creekbend]

We always apply White Vinegar to our socks.

 

[creekbend]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

Trombiculidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[creekbend]

We have ticks in N. California. What is the range/habitat for Chiggers?

Chigger Map of United States Chigger Concentration Locations

 

[mbohuntr]

I have to say I don't think I have ever been bitten by one??? The only bad expierence I had was moving really old hay out of a loft. I started to itch like crazy on any exposed skin. We used to lay out in the hayfields for hours stalking woodchucks and never had anything like that.....

 

[PMA]

We call them Red Bugs in South Carolina. I had 14 of them on my private parts one time, never forget that.

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[Gordo 56]

Thanks for your reply, what you say is true from what I gathered from my own research.

Chigger larvae might infest humans by crawling up our shoes and legs as we make our way through the scrub. Technically they do not actually bite us. Likewise, they do not burrow into our skin, and they do not suck our blood. Instead, chiggers use their mouths to drill tiny holes into our skin through which they secrete specialized salivary enzymes designed to break down our skin cells from the inside. Then, they slurp up the mixture through a tube formed by hardened skin cells called a stylosome. Basically, it痴 like drinking a big 添OU protein shake!

Your skin does not take too kindly to all of this drilling and parasitic digestion. Consequently, we typically develop intensely itchy, bright red pimple-like bumps or hives or a generalized skin rash in the areas where the mites were attached, even up to 24 to 48 hours after exposure. Chiggers prefer to attach to skin at areas where the clothing fits tightly against the body, such as at the tops of socks or around the elastic edges of underwear, so a rash in these areas may be a clue to the specific cause.
Forget the old rural myth of applying fingernail polish to the affected areas. Chiggers do NOT burrow into the skin, so trying to suffocate the mites with nail polish makes no sense at all. Second, chiggers do not lay eggs in the skin, so don't worry about that.

Chigger wounds are a complex mixture of mechanical damage to the skin (the drilling), enzymatic disruption of the skin (the digestion), and your body痴 own attempt to get rid of the parasite. Consequently, the most important thing to do is to prevent chigger infestation. By the time it starts to itch, they are long gone.

The nail polish belief has been around for years and years but is just not true.

 

[Gordo 56]

ouch, glad they didn't travel that far on me, I bet you never forgot that

We call them Red Bugs in South Carolina. I had 14 of them on my private parts one time, never forget that.

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[VonD]

Well, I can certainly empathize the uncomfortable nature of chiggers. Being #4 of 5 brothers semi annual visits to "granny's farm" always involved skinny dipping. One time we just threw our clothes on the grass and jumped in the Warrior River and had a great time. We got out and put our underwear, cut offs and t shirts and went about the business of exploring the woods and hills of north Alabama. The next day chiggers had infested our privates and let me tell you I wouldn't wish that in anyone. If the CIA had used chiggers instead of water boarding they'd probably know far more than they did back then. That was no fun. After 3 days of itching craziness granny unveiled her 100% cure for chiggers......zippo lighter fluid! Of course we were all raw from scratching the itch. When that lighter fluid hit the privates I think I could have outrun a Harley 1200 at least for 1/8 of a mile. Man that burned! Next day no chiggers. I don't recommend granny's solution to anyone. The luffa, hot water, and repellent sounds far more ergonomic than zippo.

 

[Gordo 56]

Chigger Map of United States Chigger Concentration Locations

Thanks creeekbend, I saw this. Looks like the midsouth and Midwest are chigger havens.

 

[Gordo 56]

Well, I can certainly empathize the uncomfortable nature of chiggers. Being #4 of 5 brothers semi annual visits to "granny's farm" always involved skinny dipping. One time we just threw our clothes on the grass and jumped in the Warrior River and had a great time. We got out and put our underwear, cut offs and t shirts and went about the business of exploring the woods and hills of north Alabama. The next day chiggers had infested our privates and let me tell you I wouldn't wish that in anyone. If the CIA had used chiggers instead of water boarding they'd probably know far more than they did back then. That was no fun. After 3 days of itching craziness granny unveiled her 100% cure for chiggers......zippo lighter fluid! Of course we were all raw from scratching the itch. When that lighter fluid hit the privates I think I could have outrun a Harley 1200 at least for 1/8 of a mile. Man that burned! Next day no chiggers. I don't recommend granny's solution to anyone. The luffa, hot water, and repellent sounds far more ergonomic than zippo.

Thanks gor sharing this VonD my wife and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Great story.

 

[Egbert]

Let's hear it for Permethrin! This stuff is as close to bullet-proof as you will ever get.

Skip the Sawyer and head directly to your coop or feed store. You'll get higher concentrations that will dilute into gallons for far less $$$ than Sawyer.

I soak all the clothes I use on the farm with Permethrin diluted to .0025 percent - 1/4 of 1 percent. One treatment will last at least 6 machine washings.

 

[Gordo 56]

I also had poison oak before and I say chiggers are about the same for itch factor except you get a more creepy factor because they are a bug and you think they still are on you.

Sheesh, these things sound almost as bad as poison oak!

 

[Gordo 56]

Bird, what would you rather have, chiggers or fire ants?

The clear fingernail polish use to work for me better than anything else. But fortunately, we haven't had a chigger problem in many years. Some say it's because the fire ants killed them all, and of course I don't know whether that's right or not; just glad to not have to suffer from those things.

 

[Gordo 56]

Thanks Egbert, we may try Permethrin.

 

[two_bit_score]

Here was the folk's stock remedy if the 'red bugs' got us:
http://www.campho.com/img/main_index.jpg

Good ole Campho phenique! It burns a little at first if you have scratched the area but that goes away quickly and it stops the itch pretty well.

Like everyone says prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sulphur, including sulphur tablets, worked about as good as anything and keeps ticks off too.

I recall going with my dad to look at a farm he was considering buying and we got covered by 'seed ticks'. We forever referred to that place as the 'tick farm'. Nice place and had a real nice artesian well on it. Once we got aware of how to prevent the ticks it was OK.