Tick, chigger, mosquito... Ahh summer.

[Anonymous Poster]

patrickg: You are correct about the chiggers, they are mites, do not fly and bats would have no effect on them.

Locally, bites from anything smaller than a mosquito are lumped into two groups, "chiggers" and "jiggers". "Jigger" bites most often refer to wood gnats but the two terms (incorrectly) are used interchangably.

Wood gnats are small mosquito-like gnats which belong to the family Mycetophilidae that lay their eggs on decaying wood and bats are effective in controlling them.

Other local slang includes "Morman Flys", but we won't talk about that now.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Patrick,

Don't know much about Martins. I've seen a lot of houses, but very few people seem to get the bird nesting in them. Usually sparrows and such. I always thought they were kinda like barn swallows and would probably nest in similar places. Usually, the barn swallows want to be in the middle of an open field. I think it helps them catch bugs because they can make a straight dive at the little critters and don't have to worry about trees being in the way. I've got alot of barn swallows out at the farm and virtually no bugs other than crawlers.

SHF

 

[dmccarty]

Richard,

Thanks for the info on the spray and sprayer. I guess I get to add a new item to my ever expanding Tractor Must Buy List! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif At least this one I will get by The Boss without any argument! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks again!
Dan

 

[patrickg]

Purple Martins are related to the Swallows and act a lot the same and are similar in profile. I'm not expert enough to tell who is who unless both are present or I get a good look with an advantageous lighting angle. Sure, they look really different in coloring and the Martin is larger viewed in a wildlife field guide but in practice, I need more practice.

About 6:30 - 7:00 this AM there were a couple Scissor Tailed Flycatchers feeding overhead when I came out of the shop. Their aerial acrobatics when in bug pursuit mode are as intricate as anything I have ever seen at an air show and way beyond my meager capabilities (consecutive loops and Immelmans... bet Art Scholls would have been amused). I don't notice them vocalizing very much very often but during this bug pursuit the got pretty vocal. Made me think of radio chatter between pilots in a fur ball (multi plane combative encounter).

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

"Morman Flys", but we won't talk about that now.

I don't mind. I'm an equal opportunity blasphemer, liabler (sp), etc. I am equally able to and pleased to tick off just about anyone of any race, creed, color, ethnicity, religious belief, political persuasion, height, weight, attitude, wealth, condition of previous servitude, education, or just about any other attribute you can think of with the help of your friends.

But seriously, I sure am glad there weren't some flying chiggers I just hadn't heard of. Bad enough as it is. No-see-ums can be maddening. I landed at 29 Palms once to refuel and as soon as I openedthe cockpit the no-see-ums started trying to devour me. I thought I would be driven crazy before finishing refueling (I know, I know some people say in my case it isn't a drive, just a short put.) As I taxied out toward the down wind end of the runway the little $*^&% got so bad and it was so bloody hot I wheeled her around and firewalled the engine. Made it off ok before they debilitated me further but it was the only time I ever didn't take advantage of all the available runway with so high a density altitude due to temp (potentially fatal error). Anyway, with a temp lapse rate of about 3 degrees per thousand feet I soon started to cool off and the little carnivores weren't so active, still chewing on me but not so voraciously. I opened the door and braced it open with my left foot which made for a small tornado of turbulence in the cockpit. Amazing how much sand and stuff there is even after vacuum cleaning. After about a minute of this I had cleared virtually all of them out and by the time I got up to 8-9000 ft it was cool enough that they were inactive, suffering hypoxia, or just as likely, too full to keep eating.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Dan, You probably read this already but just in case... As I think I understand from reading, the Permethrin is not actually an insect repellent and won't keep chigers, ticks, etc. away from you. They will still get on you or your clothes but will get a fatal dose of Permethrin within about two feet of crawling on treated material (sooner if they doddle). Sealing your clothes at the ankles is good as it forces them to a longer walk before they find flesh. I have some gaiters from back packing which do the job well. Might sew up some cotton ones to take Permethrin better. Sometimes I just tuck my treated pants into the top of my treated socks forcing them to a long walk to find flesh.

The other point I wanted to make is that Permethrin treated clothing isn't the whole DoD system. They also employ the microencapsulated deet cream on exposed areas. In our case our wrists (a point of entry) and neck around your collar (another point of entry). Depending on what I "THINK" I will be doing I may not use deet, just treated clothes.
So far I have had zero chiggers and zero attached ticks since treating my clothes. Before that it would just creep me out to feel something crawling up the back of my neck near the hair line, run my hand over the area and come back with a tick (not an isolated event before treating clothes). We do a tick inspection every night. Since treating clothes, no ticks.

I sure hope this works for you as well as it has for us.

Patrick

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Patrick you sound like my kind of guy. I've never been accused of being "PC" myself. Morman flys are actually May flys that hatch every spring in the Mississippi river by the thousands x 10, live for about 48 hours, breed and then die.

The Mormans settled in Nauvo, IL and quickly overwelmed the local population until Joe Smith got shot and killed in the Carthage jail. All but a few picked up and moved to Utah.

Depending on the age of the story teller, they are called "morman" flys due to their sudden overwelming population and equally quick departure, or because they're just a pain in the #@%.

I've seen homes along the river covered to the point you can't tell the color of the house.

 

[dmccarty]

Patrick,

For the most part, I'm doing ok without putting DEET on exposed flesh. I have found a tick or two crawling on my neck but its always at the end of the day and usually on the drive home. I think they get on my legs and crawl up until they hit my next. When I'm working I constantly scan my legs for the little $%^&*() and when I find one I take evil delight in killing the tick in some nasty way. My favorite method is to simply toss the %^&*( into the bed of the truck. Since the bedliner is black and usually in the sun its quite hot and the little $%^&*( cook real quick..... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I have thought of getting some gaiters but I was concerned they would not have a tight enough fit to keep the %^&*( buggers from getting up my pant legs.

I printed of the clothes treatments from the web site and I hope to try that this afternoon. The ticks I have had lately are happening after I get home and take off my boots. I think. The will get my ankles after I take the boots off. I don't see how they could have gotten past the Ace bandages and socks so I think they hide out in the folds of the pants legs and then get me. Devious little %^&*(). Hopefull the Permethrin will kill them when they try this tactic again... he he he /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks for the info...
Dan

 

[RobS]

re: Mayflies

We were just camping on Lake Erie in Ohio and the local paper had an article about Mayflies. It seems a small town would be inundated with the things to the point where they had to use front loaders to clean them up. Then they learned that by leaving the lights off at night, they eliminated the problem. Now, for a couple of nights in early summer, it's lights out for the whole town.

I left our camper outside light on just to see for myself and sure enough there were several hundred of the things on the camper in the morning. They died quickly and the bodies didn't survive the drive home /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[dmccarty]

PatrickG.

The ticks got me this weekend! Grrrrrr.... /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I did alot of walking in the woods checking property boundries and I'll have to do more of the next couple of weeks.... A few got me I pretty sure because of the new ACE bandages. I'll be going back to the old style on my next work day.

I looked at the bottle of Permithern that I have and its .5% instead of the needed 13.5%. That explains why it was not that effective. I'm going to have to look at the home centers, Ace, the farm store, and WallyWorld to see if I can find the Permithern.

I checked a pet mail order catalog and they did not have the chemical. But I did see tick collars. I'm going to see what chemical's they are using and I might get two, one for each ankle. Maybe that will kill the $%^&*( buggers. If all else fails I order the Permithern from the web site you referenced but I really want to find a supply of thats cheaper by volume. If this stuff will kill the ticks I'll be getting a sprayer.......

Later...
Dan