RE: Uggghhh, Chiggers....

[Gone-Camping]

 
YUK-O....
 
 I spent three days in Norge Va at the American Heritage RV Park, had a great time despite the oppressive heat & humidity. Kids loved the new trailer, and I got to give it a " Full Work-out"  and everything was fine...well except two things.
 
 First of all, nephew Derek managed to get himself locked into the little on-board lavatory, seems he locked the door, and it wasn t about to un-lock. He sounded a little pitiful as I entered the trailer and heard him pleading for help. The other kids in our group had a good laugh at his expense. I wound up popping the door open with a screw driver (no harm to my new trailer) and then dismantled the door knob and removed the lock mechanism. Every thing is fine now!
 
 But after I got home, my feet and ankle s started getting ichy, very ichy, and then I spotted the little red welts. I didn t know what it was last night, but got it figured out tonight as I sat there and iched some more. A quick wash down with some acetone hopefully killed them off, and then a good long extremely hot soaking in water aafter scrubbing them down. Then I coated everything with neosporin and swallowed an anti-biotic. The iching has stopped for the most part, but.... Uggghhhh
 
 Oh, and the park was typical RV Park, lines them up like sausages in a can. I can t say it was awning to awning as they did have them all angled so it seemed like large site s. It was very clean, extremely nice bath house, freindly operators (owned by a group of owners), and VERY quiet after dark. Yes I d go back [], after Chigger season is over that is!!!! [: (]

[forestwalker]

 Gone-Camping
We dont have  em here in California.What do they look like ? How can they be prevented ?

[JemJen24]

 Gone-Camping
I ve had chiggers continuosly for over 2 months now.  Seems everytime they clear up, I get a new case.
 
 Chiggers are minute (tiny) red insects that burrow into your skin and cause red bumps (look like ant bites or mosquito bites) that itch HORRIBLY!!!  A chigger bite will usually not dissapear for about 1-2 weeks.
 
 Chiggers prefer warm, moist locations, so  you ll find these bumps usually in your sock lining, panty lining, or any other place you, more than linkely, had an article of clothing.
 
 For prevention, the staff at our local park puts sulfur powder into an old sock (you can mix it with baby powder to lessen the smell) and dusts their clothing before heading out into the woods.
 
 For treatment there s not much you can do except letting it run it s course.  Unfortunately, antibiotics will not help here.  Your best defense is simply washing thoroughly when you get home and if you start seing welps, put some clear nailpolish on them.  You could buy a product like Chiggarid or Chiggarex, but it s almost the same thing as clear nailpolish and much more expensive.
 
 Chiggers are really bad this year.  Don t wish  em on anyone.
 
 Jennifer

[wahoonc]

 Gone-Camping
When I was a counseler at BSA camp we would wear cat flea collars around our ankles, it helped keep the chiggers down. Using a good bug spray will help too, but you have to get it on before they get you. FWIW we live in chigger heaven here in the Sandhills (they love pine straw), we have guinea hens running loose on the property, which keeps ticks, chiggers, fleas and snakes to a bare minimum. Before we got them I could count on at least 2-3 ticks everytime I mowed the grass, haven t gotten one yet this year. BTW check with you HOA they may not allow live poultry on the premise[8D][]
 
 Aaron

[tlhdoc]

 wahoonc

 

ORIGINAL:  wahoonc
 
  FWIW we live in chigger heaven here in the Sandhills (they love pine straw), we have guinea hens running loose on the property, which keeps ticks, chiggers, fleas and snakes to a bare minimum. Before we got them I could count on at least 2-3 ticks everytime I mowed the grass, haven t gotten one yet this year. BTW check with you HOA they may not allow live poultry on the premise[8D][]
 
 Aaron
 

 I haven t heard anything about guinea hens in years. []  We had them when I was a kid.  Not the smartest birds but they did eat bugs and they would kill snakes too.  No one could get close to our house with out them setting of an alarm.
 

[Turn Key]

 Gone-Camping
As " wahoonc"  says, cat/dog flea collars around your ankles will do a great job on fleas, ticks and chiggars.  Checked with my doctor on this and he gave me the " green light" .  Did suggest that the collars be worn over socks.  Also, the cheapest collars you can buy will work just as well as the expensive ones.
 
 My doctor also suggested the use of vitamin B to ward off insects on those of us who spend a lot of time outdoors.  Seems that if you take vitmin B, your body will let off a chemical/oder that the insects don t like.  We can t sense it but it seems the " creepy-crawley/nasty-flying"  critters don t care for it.
 
 Hope this helps and happy camping!

[Tentcamp]

 Gone-Camping
Does vitamin B work with mosquitos too?  I m having a bad time with them this year! [:@]

[mike4947]

 Gone-Camping
As one who been made miserable my entire life by every kind of bitting insect known and even spent serveral weeks in the army doing tests on why inects bite certain people. I can say that all that ever came out o the tests were that apx. 30% of the population is more prone to being bitten.
 Unluckily I m one of that 30%.
 Over the years I ve tried litterally every doctor approved and home remedy for bitting known to man.
 
 B vitamin has been said to block bitting incests including mosquitos and black flies.
 Problem is which of the over a doezen B vitamins is it? I ve tried them all up to the point of taking toxic doses and no effect except maybe some bugs getting their daily recommended dose of B vitamins from my blood.
 
 Garlic s another favorite home remedy. While I like garlic, the bugs seem to as well.
 
 Only thing that s sure to work is DEET, 100% DEET.
 

[ShirleyT]

 mike4947
As for the vitamin B theory from all the research I have done it seems it is B-1 that is the one for mosquitoes. I wanted to try it this year but can t seem to find it when I go to the store. Research recommends taking one 100mg B-1 a day from April to October.

[wahoonc]

 Gone-Camping
Yep it s B-1, forgot about that one. We had several guys that swore by it, I like the flea collars, unless you eat them they don t taste bad and you can t forget to take them[8D] If I recall the regime correctly you had to start taking the B-1 a good week before you went to camp, and I believe it only worked for mosquitos not some of the other blood loving critters.[&:]
 
 Tracy, love our guineas, they a blast to watch, we started out with 24 and now are down to 6 the dogs, coyotes, rat snakes and bobcats took their toll. We also have chickens, one of the roosters goes off at 3:30 in the morning...if I can figure out which one it is, he is going to die of lead poisioning[]
 
 Aaron[]

[Gone-Camping]

 Gone-Camping
The anti-biotics do indeed help! Those red welps are caused by the junk the nasty little critters inject into the skin. The anti biotics help the red swollen infected skin to heal. I just happened to have some Keflex left over from something else, which is used for all kinds of skin disorders etc.
 
 Getting rid of the Chiggers isn t that hard, Acetone (same thing as nail polish remover) kills them quickly and efficiently, and keeping things clean including clean shoes & socks, bedding etc are an absolute must! I haven t had the itching since I did this treatment!
 
 Vitamin B-1??? I sure wish it would work, I d swallow the whole bottle if it did. I got lucky last week, everyone else was being bit by the skeeters but they weren t bothering me. One other person also got Chiggers, and he was ate up by the skeeters too!!!
 
 Flea collars are not recommended from what I ve read, and they do not burrow under your skin as commonly believed. More details for those interested can be found [link=http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html]HERE[/link], [link=http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/L-1223.html]HERE[/link], and [link=http://lancaster.unl.edu/enviro/pest/factsheets/008-96.htm]HERE[/link]

[Jo Ann]

 mike4947

bitting incests

 boy mike4947...you may end up getting the boot...this is too close to discussing  IT
 
 btw...i take a b100 complex...and i still get bit.

[Turn Key]

 Tentcamp

Does vitamin B work with mosquitos too? I m having a bad time with them this year!

 That s the way I understand it.  We don t camp in the summer so mosquitos aren t a big problem.  Vitamin B is suppose to work on them, as well.

[vjm1639]

 Gone-Camping
The B Vitamins must only work on some people.... I take a very high dose of a multiple  B vitamin daily
 Vitamin B-1 (Thiamine) 100 mg 6670%
 Vitamin B-2 (Riboflavin) 100 mg 5880%
 Niacinamide (Vitamin B-3) 100 mg 500%
 Vitamin B-6 (Pyridoxine HCI) 100 mg 5000%
 Vitamin B-6 (Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate) 25 mg 1250%
 Folic Acid 800 mcg 200%
 Vitamin B-12 (Cyanocobalamin) 2,000 mcg 33333%
 Vitamin B-12 (Methylcobalamin) 1,000 mcg 16667%
 Biotin (Pure) 2 mg 6667%
 Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5) 500 mg 5000%
 Pantethene (Vitamin B-5) 25 mg 500%
 and I still get bitten every time I walk outside unprotected!  LOL  I have to wear Deep Woods Off if I m going to be outside for any length of time.  We spray our yard, bushes, and I even have several citronella plants on my balcony.    I just must be full of whatever it is that attracts them!
 
 
 
 

[forestwalker]

 Gone-Camping
Any time of the year that they are worse?  Where can the bugs be found-field,forest,beach,riparian corridor,...? Are they commonly found with specific plants ? Aaron mentioned that they are abundant in pine straw. Can we assume that pine straw is a grass like plant that grows in association with pine trees ? Are pets affected ?