Chiggers, A Hard Lesson Learned

[Gordo 56]

Thanks, that sounds like something we will do with the sock and sulpher powder.

I took a nap in the afternoon - on my back in the tall grass - once back when I was twelve years old or so. Perfect weather with the warm sunshine and a gentle cool breeze. When I awoke I though I would die. My southern hemisphere pretty much didn't have any untouched skin left. Utter misery for a couple of days.

On our place we keep an old sock filled with a cupful of sulpher powder hung on a nail outside the back door. When going outside (during chigger season at least) we just tamp our ankles and lower legs with the sock. Doesn't keep every single chigger away forever, but works kinda decently and in the long run is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying Off all the time.

xtn

 

[Gordo 56]

The chiggers don't care how much experience you have farming or being out in the country. They'll get you either way!!
If they are burrowed under the skin one of the remedies we always used was clear nail polish over the welts to suffocate the little buggars!
Hang in there and watch out for ticks!

Thanks Daver, I will try that nail polish next time.

 

[Bird]

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]

The best way I've found is to treat your clothes with permethrin spray . Here is the expensive way (diluted) to buy it: Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray - 24 oz. at REI.com

Here is the cheap way (concentrate): Permethrin-10 Livestock & Premise Spray, 32 oz. - Tractor Supply Co.

I will have to give this stuff a try, looks like this stuff might be the ticket. Thanks for letting us know about this.

 

[caps]

If they are burrowed under the skin one of the remedies we always used was clear nail polish over the welts to suffocate the little buggars!
Hang in there and watch out for ticks!

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’s like drinking a big “YOU” 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’s 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.

 

[TripleR]

:drink:

One night we were out on our land (the wife, daughter and I) just sitting on the Gator watching the sun go down on a cooler, summer night. It was SO quiet and peaceful out there. We were both reveling in it.

We get back home to our house in town (we're in the building process of a new one on our land right now)...

About 45 min after we left the quiet tranquility of our land, two Harley Davidson's drag race past our house full-throttle, the local fire department screams by on a emergency call, and minutes later the local ambulance service follows suit. :laughing:

We both just laughed at the irony, and then talked about how we cannot WAIT to leave the city behind!

And we even live in a pretty quiet neighborhood in the city!

So, yes, give me the seasonal insects anytime!

Similar situation for us, for a couple of years we lived 400 miles from our farms then I transferred to within 40 miles, but regs kept me in a town for the next eighteen years and we visited the farms on weekends; sure was hard going "home". I now have a rnge in my back yard, UTV/ATV just out my door and tractor in the barn; can't beat it.:thumbsup:

 

[dmccarty]

The best way I've found is to treat your clothes with permethrin spray . Here is the expensive way (diluted) to buy it: Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray - 24 oz. at REI.com

Here is the cheap way (concentrate): Permethrin-10 Livestock & Premise Spray, 32 oz. - Tractor Supply Co.

I use DEET or Permethrin that I have bought at REI. I have seen Permethrin cheaper at the farm store but I have not bought it yet. The nice thing about Permethrin is that it will stay on your clothes through repeated washings.

You CAN see Chiggers, they look like little flakes of pepper. HARD to see but they can be seen if you have light colored clothes or skin. My work pants for non winter seasons are cheap, light colored fabric so I can see the spawn of the devil. If you have on clothes that are dark, like jean fabric, you will not see the Chiggers.

The WORST chigger infestation I have had was from looking at land to buy. I was at one place after work and I was wearing shorts and shoes with no socks. The driveway into the property was covered in Vetch which I call Tick/Chigger Weed. If you see Vetch around here it WILL be full of ticks and chiggers. I did not walk into the property because of the Vetch but I did walk on a neighboring parcel that had been clear cut which allowed me to see into the for sale lot. Then I talked with three neighbors and what they told me made me walk into the Vetch. I had planned to return later wearing proper clothing and chemicals but what the neighbors told me forced me into the Vetch....

Now, I am glad I ventured into and past the Vetch because I found out the seller was living in an shack made out of a bus. There were old cars, boats, 55 gallon drums, batteries, etc., along with the bus, on the property. What a mess. I also met another neighbor who had interesting things to say.

Then I drove home. About 10 minutes from the land, I started itching and looked down to see my legs covered in Chiggers. Surprise Surprise. I stopped at a gas station and bought the LAST can of OFF and sprayed the whole can on my legs! :shocked: The DEET killed the chiggers but alas it was too late. I spent a good week doped up on Benydryl pills and cream.

I have tried every remedy I have heard and the only thing that works to stop the itch is an antihistimean pill and gel. Helps but does not cure. The best cure is scratching the heck out of the bite until they bleed white goo that seems to release the itching. Not a real good solution to say the least.

The good news is that we have built up some "immunity" to the bites. We get bitten now and we get the red bites but the itching is not so bad and does not last long. We hired a guy with a bull dozer to push down some trees for us two summers back. He was wearing shorts and sandals. :shocked: I mentioned the ticks and chiggers but he was unconcerned. He said they chiggers did not bother him any more. Flip side is that I have been bitten quite a few times now, each time with dozens or hundreds of bites so the "cure" is not cheap. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

The cure is not total, we still will itch just not as bad, so we still use chemicals to fend these fiends from us.

Good Luck,
Dan

 

[RobertN]

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

 

[luvmexfood]

I can remember getting chiggers while blackberry picking in my early teen years. Man they itch. Pretty much was made to go with my mother but my older two sisters did not have to go. Made me mad. Only good thing about it was our neighbor would always go and usually bring her granddaughter who was less than a year younger than me. We would get around a big patch of vines and "disappear" to smooch.

Guess if you look hard enough you can find a silver lining in most clouds. Just told my sister Monday after she had to go to the Dr. over poison ivy that it didn't really bother me anymore. Wednesday I was suffering. I do remember cutting a vine of some kind with a chainsaw. Must have been poison then the sweat running down me spread it. Face, including eyelids, both arms, chest and tallywacker. Must have had to pee with the oil from the vine on my hands. I can handle pain, being sick but the torrental itching is driving me crazy. Called Doc yesterday and got some meds called in. Pharmacy had to order and got them today. YUK!!!!

 

[Western]

I use deep woods off, highest DEET % I believe. If I have sprayed with the DWOff, I never have a problem with Chiggers or ticks.

The times I get chiggers when not "treated" I use regular bleach on a paper towel and wipe my ankles and anywhere else I have been bitten, it stings, but 10 minutes later, all is good. This is what my grandfather did for us in the 60's and it works.