Chiggers.
 

I'm posting this here because without me there wouldn't be any garden.
I got home the other day and I now am the proud owner of two chigger bites on my left eye.
One on the lid and the other right at the corner by my nose.
a few in the nether regions and some on my legs.
For years we didn't have chiggers and about 4 years ago they showed up in droves.

All I did was go look at the gaden for a wee bit and came in when I got home.:(

Chiggers/Red Bugs are horrible.
They stick a wee proboscis in your skin and dissolve tissue and suck it up.
The funnel they leave behind is the thing that causes you to itch not the bug.
It is your body rejecting the funnel.

You can get hot soapy water and a scrub brush and remove the funnel and the itch will go away.
I cant very well do anything around my eye.:evil:

This is driving me crazy, my eyes are all red and swollen and itch.:cry:
It will be many days before it goes away.:(
Another thing is the chigger that bothers us is one that is supposed to be on birds not us.
The one that is attracted to humans dont bother us and we never know they are there.

What on earth can I do to run these things out of my yard.
All I have seen is toxic sprays.

Worth

Sorry to hear that you have itchies near your eye - nasty!

Sulphur (sp?) powder is supposed to work to kill (smother?) the horrid things.

Chiggerex ointment (which I bought at Walmart) really helped to subdue the itch. They are "supposed" to bite us on the torso, or wherever elastic clings to the body. Don't your chiggers know nuffin?????

I always thought they were a Southern thang, until we got some in a load of bark chips. Now they have made our deck their home. :bummer:

Oh shoot! Those nasty things are painful. I am sure there will be several folks that will offer remedies.

We have them bad here and of course I got into them major time when blackberry picking. Didn't know what the nasties were. I was covered all over . I was in misery. Neighbors thought it was funny and told me what I had was chigger bites.

They also told me to paint nail polish on the bites. I tried it and actually it made the situation worse. I ended up in the ER I couldn't stand the itching and pain.

The nurse that checks you in, she started laughing when I told her my problem. She also said I had the worse case she had ever seen. Then she told me to go home, get a bar of dog flea soap and take a shower with it. Get all lathered up and let it stay on for about 15 minutes. I just kept rubbing the soap around and in. Than I rinsed off. In a very short time, the welting, itching and red spots was all gone.

May sound crazy, but I keep a bar of the dog flea soap around and use it when I need to.

For very sensitive spots, like around your eyes, I don't know if I would use flea soap, but witch hazel on cotton balls and held in place for several minutes usually does the trick. I will use the witch hazel whenever I get just a few bites either that or some bleach and water mix.

MAybe this will help too.

[url]http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/get-rid-of-chiggers-zmaz05jjzsel.aspx?PageId=2#ArticleContent[/url]

Only thing I know of to help keep them out of yard is to treat yard with sulfur. Seems they don't like it. Coating shoes and socks with it too before going outside is supposed to help if you don't want to spray yourself with bug spray.

I hope you can find some relief fast, especially for your eyes. That is very dangerous area. :cry:

Chiggers like grass. Especially domesticated grasses like St. Augustine. I know I am old fashioned thinking, but 70% rubbing alcohol stops the itch. As far as getting rid of them, well short of ripping all the grass out - there is Malathion and countless others. I'm sure there is some sort of organic method. I grew up with my father using the latest-greatest nuke-icide for insects.

I cannot grow grass because I'm allergic. That works out well, because our soil doesn't like grass either. So chiggers are not a problem here.

However, when Smokey flicks off a flea - it can magically jump counties just to land on me. And of course - I'm allergic to fleas. ITCHY- ITCHY, but don't scratch.

I used to be a Red Bug magnet and my reaction to their bites left holes after they healed.

I haven't had a single bite since I started using Lavender scented bath powder. I sprinkle a little on my feet and legs before I put my socks on. Cheap, effective and smells good. Claud

I have a anti itch thing I use and I have also use vicks vapor rub.
But in all of my life I have never ad then on my eyes.:(
It is all I can do to keep from touching the bites.

I need to find some sulfur in a huge bag.
Out in West Texas I could pick it up for free on the side of the road coming from the gas plants.
It would slosh out of the trucks.:lol:

Worth

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;478822]Chiggers like grass. Especially domesticated grasses like St. Augustine. I know I am old fashioned thinking, but 70% rubbing alcohol stops the itch. As far as getting rid of them, well short of ripping all the grass out - there is Malathion and countless others. I'm sure there is some sort of organic method. I grew up with my father using the latest-greatest nuke-icide for insects.

I cannot grow grass because I'm allergic. That works out well, because our soil doesn't like grass either. So chiggers are not a problem here.

However, when Smokey flicks off a flea - it can magically jump counties just to land on me. And of course - I'm allergic to fleas. ITCHY- ITCHY, but don't scratch.[/QUOTE]
You have a critter named Smokey too is it a cat or dog.:D

Worth

A bird loving chigger? Is there any chance of it passing on some strange bird disease?

:o

Rub on a little kerosene or diesel fuel around the cuffs of your pants & boots, also waist band and shirt sleeve cuffs before going berry picking they can't hack it.

[QUOTE=Mojave;478832]A bird loving chigger? Is there any chance of it passing on some strange bird disease?

:o[/QUOTE]

I have no idea, I think it was something I read on a reputable website like Texas A&M.

Since the chigger make this funnel and dissolves tissue and not sucking blood I doubt it but who knows.
[url]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CF4QFjAH&url=https%3A%2F%2Finsects.tamu.edu%2Fextension%2Fpublications%2Fepubs%2Fe-365.cfm&ei=Nw51VYrCE4vRtQW7xoDwCw&usg=AFQjCNHN4PO-2RHQ3J7iEno7jlR3iqVX7Q&sig2=_d4W-C1hDUGwntxWUyYUBA&bvm=bv.95039771,d.b2w[/url]

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;478828]You have a critter named Smokey too is it a cat or dog.:D

Worth[/QUOTE]

No, I was saying that your cat could flick off a flea - and it would land on me - multiple counties away. My cats have simple names, White Cat, Black Cat, Trouble, and Hey You.

when I first started to read your post and you said near your eyes I though oh no shingles but you seem to know your chiggers! Hope the itching goes away soon.

[QUOTE=Sun City Linda;478847]when I first started to read your post and you said near your eyes I though oh no shingles but you seem to know your chiggers! Hope the itching goes away soon.[/QUOTE]

No not shingles, chiggers.:shock:
Every time I come hoke I get chiggers not and they itch for a week after I go to work.
When it first happened the itch would start at work.
I thought my bed at work had bed bugs or something.:shock:
Then I remembered chiggers from when I was a kid.:lol:
It stared the year my neighbors daughter in law planted rye grass in her yard in the winter and wouldn't mow it.:evil:
From then on chiggers.

Worth

Probably better than shingles.....

Sorry to hear about your eye, how awful!

I got bitten so badly the other night that I just wanted to cry. I broke down and went to buy camping type bug spray but found an insect repellent with no deet - the acrive ingredient is lemon oil eucalyptus. It kept the bugs off on a sticky evening so a winner in my book. It smells just like pledge furniture polish, and you must apply every few hours. Makes being outdoors much more tolerable.

- Lisa

Are chiggers the same thing as no-see-ums? I am constantly getting bitten by something I can't see(I'm not crazy!) and it's not fleas. They're small enough to come in through the screens and I assume are attracted to the computer light. Sometimes I get a glimpse of something fly past my face. I feel them biting me on my face and once in a while I'll get a big welt if it's close to my eye. Some nights are worse than others, especially if it's been raining. Most of the bites don't show up right away but usually the next morning I can see clusters of little bites here and there around my waist, under my arms, the usual moist areas. If I'm outside for any length of time I have to wear something that doesn't hang away from my body or I get tons of bites(unless I spray up well). It takes a couple of days for the itching to peak(the bites hurt and itch at the same time)then they heal quickly after that. It goes on pretty much all year around here, but in Wisconsin I got some relief during the winter.
Anyway, just wondering if they're the same thing...or if I really am crazy...:dizzy:

What you describe sounds like a buffalo gnat. I've never seen them out after dark so I'm not sure. We live near water and they can be fierce during mating season, which is now.
There is a product called Buggins. It's all natural, no Deet.
My wife is very much prone to their bites. After spraying down they leave her alone.
This might also work for chiggers but have never tried it.
Buffalo gnat bites seem to be larger than chigger bites but don't last as long.
There more like a welt than a bite at least on me.

No see ums fly, but chiggers have to crawl. Both are horrid, but chigger bites last (and itch) forever.

Linda

How you feeling this morning Worth? Were you able to do or find anything to get you some relief?

Grrrrrrrr. No-See-Ums I think are worse than chiggers. They are so bad here especially right now. No more flip flops. I have to wear shoes and socks or my feet and legs will itch for hours on end unless I spray the heck out of myself with the Off. Even then I have to reapply every so often as the spray doesn't seem to last to long with the No-See-Um's.

I hate chiggers and douse myself with deet bug spray every morning when I go out in the garden in late spring and summer and haven't had even one bite in years. It also helps with the mosquitoes which will carry me away at daylight or evening if I'm not doused well. With some of the bad things mosquitoes are carrying now it is worth the aggravation of having to shower as soon as I get in and well worth it in the case of chiggers which can make life miserable for a week or so.

Bill

What a major drag. Don't know if it will help, but I use ammonia on mosquito and spider bites--it neutralizes the poison and stops the itching.

[QUOTE=lrussillo;478933]What a major drag. Don't know if it will help, but I use ammonia on mosquito and spider bites--it neutralizes the poison and stops the itching.[/QUOTE]


Well I now have one right on my left nipple.:shock::shock::no:
I put Windex on it and it still itches.

People were coming down with head colds at work when I left and now I think I have one.
This is compounding the aggravation I am going through.

Worth

[QUOTE=Sun City Linda;478854]Probably better than shingles.....[/QUOTE]

It's pretty miserable. Not like shingles but imagine the worst itching ever. I had them once in the Army on my legs and I swear they itched for 6 months!

[QUOTE=Starlight;478911]How you feeling this morning Worth? Were you able to do or find anything to get you some relief?

Grrrrrrrr. No-See-Ums I think are worse than chiggers. They are so bad here especially right now. No more flip flops. I have to wear shoes and socks or my feet and legs will itch for hours on end unless I spray the heck out of myself with the Off. Even then I have to reapply every so often as the spray doesn't seem to last to long with the No-See-Um's.[/QUOTE]

We have them bad, too.
I wonder if sulphur on the pasture and trails would help with them. It works great for ticks, mites and chiggers.
I have found that skin so soft combined with other sprays help. Right now I'm using 40% deer because the gnats are so bad. My horse is covered head to knees and has a rash on her legs from them.

[QUOTE=lrussillo;478933]What a major drag. Don't know if it will help, but I use ammonia on mosquito and spider bites--it neutralizes the poison and stops the itching.[/QUOTE]

That is good to know. :D Thanks for sharing. I am always covered in spider bites. Sometimes it is so bad I wonder if I will wake up a spider woman. :lol: Spiders are very good for the gardens and so I have slews of them all over. I hate walking into webs all the times. Them little black jumping ones can really take a chunk out of you.

Awwwwwwwwwww Worth. You really having a hard time of it right now. I sure hope things settle down and you can get back to feeling like yourself.

Windex??? That's a new idea. If I was itchy all over I would be trying anything under the sun I could.

All you can do about chigger bites is treat the itch. Calamine lotion externally and Benadryl internally. Other than that, try your best not to scratch because it can cause infection.
As my mom used to tell me ... "It'll all get better before you are married". She was right, my life was great up to that point!:))
Divorced and happy again now!

Oh yeah, that's right ... we were talking about chiggers. Sorry for drifting off topic there.

Do these little terrorists bite our pets too?

[QUOTE]Do these little terrorists bite our pets too? [/QUOTE]

I've been wondering the same thing. We treat our pets for fleas and they don't have ear mites but they all have itchy ears. It can't be that they all have ear infections...their ears don't smell, have little to no gunk, but all 6 cats and the dog have itchy ears. That's the first thing they want when jumping into our laps is to have their ears rubbed, like...forever. Sometimes when a cat comes in and jumps in my lap I start to get bit...like some little bitey things have hitched a ride on its fur. Not fleas...I can see and feel fleas.

Ear mites and midges will bite dogs. I think midges may be the no-see-ums we have right now. My pony has sweet itch, which is caused by them. She lacerated her cornea a few weeks ago trying to scratch.

Yes, dogs and cats get chiggers too, just like us. Chiggers aren't like fleas and they don't jump from one host to the other to feed. If you and your pets have them, then you each have your own personal collection.
And you won't feel chiggers bite ... you'll feel the itch a day or two afterward from their feeding tube and enzymes that they inject to soften up your skin tissues so they can eat them.