Spring Brings Chiggers

[TN8Man]

I noticed some tiny red bugs sunbathing on my deck railing today and they appear to be chiggers

I've run across chiggers before but usually in tall grass when cutting wood. The last few days I was stump grinding a few dead oak's and one was not that far from the deck. Is it possible I was flinging them up in the air and they landed on the deck? Now I need to figure out a way to get rid of them.

 

[ponytug]

Chiggers are microscopic;

Trombiculidae - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Could they be a clover mites?

Solved! What Are These Tiny Red Bugs In My Home?

If you’ve spotted tiny red bugs in your home, they're likely clover mites. Click here to learn how to get rid of clover mites anywhere.

www.bobvila.com

 

[David in KY]

FYI, my dad always kept a sock, filled with sulfur and tied, in the door of the truck. Anytime we were working in tall grass, we would dust our boots and pants up to our knees, to repel ticks and chiggers. Always seemed to work. He learned that in college for wildlife management in west Texas.

 

[oosik]

You have chiggers - here we have ticks. Lots of them this spring.

 

[TN8Man]

Chiggers are microscopic;

Trombiculidae - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Could they be a clover mites?

Solved! What Are These Tiny Red Bugs In My Home?

If you’ve spotted tiny red bugs in your home, they're likely clover mites. Click here to learn how to get rid of clover mites anywhere.

www.bobvila.com

The one thing I know for sure is that I have chigger bites. It's possible I got the chigger bites while stump grinding and the little red bugs on the deck are clover mites but that would be a heck of a coincidence.

From what I understand the 8 leg adult chiggers are barely visible to the eye and you would need some magnification to get a good look at them but the adults aren't the ones that eat you. It's the much smaller 6 leg larval chiggers that eat you and in the worst possible places.

I did use a home remedy that a few old timers told me. They said to take a shop rag and put a little diesel on it and smother the little bastards so they die and provides a big relief for the itching. This worked well

I also order a gallon of Talstar P Professional Insecticide to spray the deck and home perimeter after I power wash it for the recent pollen coverage.

 

[TN8Man]

You have chiggers - here we have ticks. Lots of them this spring.

We have both actually although I have been on a mission to eliminate cedar trees which has helped and I keep the grass and weeds cut low.

 

[TN8Man]

FYI, my dad always kept a sock, filled with sulfur and tied, in the door of the truck. Anytime we were working in tall grass, we would dust our boots and pants up to our knees, to repel ticks and chiggers. Always seemed to work. He learned that in college for wildlife management in west Texas.

I have heard of sulfur and other powders that work as you mentioned. The odd thing was I was was not working in tall grass. I was just stump grinding oaks. I wonder if the chiggers were in the oak stump.

 

[kenmbz]

I got bitten up with what was possibly chiggers while working on a tree with low grass around it, first time I have had that happen this far north.

Ticks, well I haven't seen one since yesterday :-(

I spray premetherin on my boots and lower pants legs Sawyer sp657 that was suggested by another person on this site. Seems to slow down the ticks so I always find them crawling slow like they are confused.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I would also guess clover mites if you see them on your deck railing. I hate chiggers though. Short funny story, the summer when my Filipina wife arrived in the states, (2007) we did a lot of canoeing and fishing. One day she had to pee real bad and did just that on the lake shore. You guessed it, chiggers! She was miserable for days

 

[TN8Man]

I would also guess clover mites if you see them on your deck railing. I hate chiggers though. Short funny story, the summer when my Filipina wife arrived in the states, (2007) we did a lot of canoeing and fishing. One day she had to pee real bad and did just that on the lake shore. You guessed it, chiggers! She was miserable for days

It's possible they were clover mites. I do get clover mites in my vegetable garden which is about 400 feet from my deck. The oak stump is about 30 feet from the deck.