Chiggers are so rude

[Oggie]

I understand that critters gotta eat but why do chiggers have to crawl to the most rude and inconvenient spots before they bite you? I'm not sure I would begrudge them as much as I do if they were straight-forward and just nipped you on the elbow or shin.

I spent much of Sunday brush hogging a field and forgot to slather myself with DEET. Now I've got itchy bites in places I can't see and other places I don't even want to see. And I'm stuck in computer training sessions trying to avoid scratching myself like a Major League infielder between pitches. I've done the pretend-to-look-for-change-in-my-pocket thing frequently enough that I'm afraid one of my classmate will comment, "Oggie, it looks like you're a bit more excited about this new computer system than you should be."

Put me in total power of the world for just 15 minutes and I'll banish chiggers, along with poison ivy, to some far-away island. Then we can send telephone solicitors, mimes and karaoke aficionados there to live out their miserable lives until they eventually find some relief at the gates of Hades.

Anyone have a better idea than DEET?

[james dilley]

Quick fix to rid ones self of Chiggers. Hot BATH ,Add one cup Bleach and soak then Bathe, After you get out Wipe down with Bleach ,Then Shower. Tis works, But it burns. I had A Old lady in Miss. tell me this 20 plus years ago. And it works.

[BellsBunnies]

Paint them with fingernail polish works also.

The mime always gets it. {laughing}

.....Alan.

[thebugguy]

Chiggers affect different people differently. Chigger bites only manifest themselves on me for a couple, three days and they disappear rapidly (only itching a bit here and there). The bites last days, more like weeks, on DW and DD, though they bother DW a lot more than DD (maybe because DD hasn't learned to scratch them yet).

I'd have to do a little research, but what I remember is that once you are aware of chigger bites, it's too late- they've already moved on. You can control the itch of their bites, but you're not influencing the critters themselves. Nail polish, etc, only soothes the itch- it has nothing to do with repelling the varmints in the first place.

To avoid bites, avoid walking in the grasses with tight fitting clothes (including shoes and socks). If you do, powder yourself with sulfur powder in all the tight fitting areas (socks, belt lines, bras, etc; unless you are allergic to sulfur), and then jump in the shower and scrub off after bombing around in the brush.

People think I'm crazy, but I run around in the brush in Kansas in the summer time in sandals and shorts and almost never get chiggers or ticks. I like to think it's just because I am personally distastefull, but I also think it is because I am limiting their ability to latch on to me...

[AngieM2]

Oggie -
I'm so sorry for your itchiness! But darn that's a funny post... haven't chuckled so much in awhile.

Hope you get less itchy.

Angie