Do you live in chigger country?

[lonelyfarmgirl]

We bought a place on the other side of the state a couple years ago and have been slowly moving our stuff as we prepare to put our current house on the market.

Over the weekend we went over there to bale hay. Husband baled while I picked berries, cut herbs and did some other things around the property.
It was miserable. There were these little flying black bugs the size of a dot that constantly touched our faces all day long. I spoke to a neighbor that stopped by and asked him whats with these bugs? Is this always like this and he said always. As in the entire summer.

We were only there for the day, so two days later at home, all the sudden we both have what I assume are chiggers, around our ankles, waist band, backs of knees, etc...They appeared on the second day.

I feel like I rolled in fire ants.

How can a person live like this? This is what we are moving into? Really?
Neither of us has said it, but I know we are both thinking it. I don't know if I can live like that. We've spent 2 years moving stuff already. I'm tired, he's tired, we're both tired.

So who lives in a place with tiny black bugs that touch you all the time and chiggers every time you step off the sidewalk? How do you deal with it? I don't know what to do.

I know the fingernail polish thing doesn't work, BTDT, besides I don't think they sell it by the gallon.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Chiggers can be a nuisance until one figures out how to deal with them. Step one, learn what chigger weed is and avoid it. Step two, keep tall weeds and grasses mowed or grazed. Step three... kerosene soaked rags tied around the ankles until you get step one and two under control. The little black gnats..... learn to embrace them. Think of them as God coming to visit, or some of your favorite ancestors reincarnated because other wise they will drive you nuts!

Oh, and dont scratch!

[Rita]

I have found that spraying wrists and ankles before berry picking and then showering immediately after really prevents chigger bites.

Is your property near a large river? When we lived near a large river in MD we were plagued by what was identified as buffalo gnats. They have a little hump on their back. If we had known how bad they could be ALL summer we never would have bought the place! Nothing to be done to eliminate them that we ever found.

[greenacresusa]

Also when you have chigger bites use ChiggerX (might be spelled somewhat different). We find it being sold in Walmart. It's in a small white plastic bottle about the size of pill bottles and it has a red cap. When we visit our retirement land in Arkansas we always bring along at least two bottles of it!!! It works really fast to get rid of the itching.

[FunnyRiverFarm]

We have them here. I learned about them the hard way after walking through some high grass...had dozens of bites including about 10 bites INSIDE of my belly button that turned into such a seeping mess that I had to wear a patch over it so I wouldn't ruin my clothes. Also had many bites in sensitive areas...i.e. groin and under the breasts...that almost drove me insane. The ones behind the knee are a bummer too because pants tend to rub there and then dry onto the seeping bites so everytime you move it rips of the dry crust and starts seeping again. They take about a week to heal....

Basically, if I am going to be anywhere but on a manicured lawn, I will wear tight cotton leggings with socks pulled up over the ankle bands so there is no gap. On top, a tight fitting shirt tucked into the waist-band of the pants...this protects the most sensitive areas. Bug spray with deet helps too but your safest bet is to create a barricade with your clothing.

[gone-a-milkin]

Another thing I learned from reading Laura Ingalls Wilder is to never go berry picking in the heat of the day.
The chiggers do not come out until after the dew dries so you have to go picking early in the morning.

[TRAILRIDER]

Every single year I swear I will not wear shorts until the fields are mowed short. and every single year I get fed up with the heat and do it anyway. I've got so many bites all over my legs I can't wear shorts the rest of the summer...so ugly! Next year I swear.....

[Alice In TX/MO]

Spray socks and jeans before you put them on with hunter's spray.

http://www.basspro.com/Sawyer-Permet...product/22568/

[fellini123]

Chiggers, hate them. Like several said, keep areas mowed and avoid heavy weedy areas.

The little gnats I do have a suggestion. Every day have a cup of tea with about a teaspoon of "real" apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of honey. After a week or so the gnats will not bother you that much. Also pickle juice seems to work pretty well too. DH uses the tea and swears by it, I eat a lot of pickles and olives and for the most part the gnats don't bother me.

We do have them terribly, yes we are by the river and most people coming to visit are really bothered by them.
Alice in Virginia

[Taylor R.]

Yep, spray all those 'bands' in your clothing with bug spray, avoid the tall grass, and shower and change clothes immediately after coming in. I've lived with them all my life so I guess I'm used to them. They itch like the devil, but remember to be thankful for the fact that they don't carry disease like mosquitos!!

There are also all kinds of yard treatments you can use, the local favorite here being spraying soapy water once the grass is a cut. Sulfur powder will do the trick, too.

[WoolyBear]

Chiggarid ( I guess they still make it) or clear fingernail polish - paint over the bites. We spray down with deet - on our pants, socks and make sure we wear a hat that has been sprayed also. For the gnats not sure how well the dryer sheets tucked into a hat works, we've never tried that one. Poor son when he was young always got gnats deep down in his ear. I had to use hydrogen peroxide to foam the little devils out.

[manfred]

Hot showers dissipates the poison from the bite site. polish does not work, the chiggers have already done their damage by the time the bump forms.

[GoldenCityMuse]

No chiggers in the mountains/high desert of New Mexico. A few mosquitoes, but not many. No ticks either.

Never ever seen scorpions.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Yeah, avoiding high weeds is impossible when you run a farm. We both wear tight high socks and shirts tucked in. Neither of us ever wears shorts.

Chigger weed is queen annes lace. We have that here, but there are no chiggers.
There is that over there, but none where we were. There are lots of woods and yes, a river.

There are no chiggers here, nor are there bugs that touch you all day long. Hence why I am now second guessing buying that place. Don't know what to do, and no I will not embrace bugs that fly into my eye balls and up my nose and touch my face all day long.

[Old John]

Every morning before I go out in the weeds, or the yard with the dogs, I spray my shoes, socks & pant legs with "Deep Woods Off". It works ever time. As long as I don't forget, I Never have Chiggers, on me.
You might try "Deep Woods Off".

[dcross]

I never experienced gnats until we visited a friend in Platteville this summer. Everyone there just tolerated them somehow, Bug Baffler maybe?

[COWS]

SC is chigger country. Don't use the kerosene, it will irritate the skin. Use insect repellent and long clothes as mentioned. Shower as soon after exposure as possible. A bath in salty water is an old home remedy. Swimming in a clororated pool seems to help. Mow grass regularly.

We also have gnats, some areas of the state worse that others. We also have mosquitoes, worse this year with all the rain. Insect repellent for them also. Get rid of standing water. I have read somewhere that mosquitoes don't fly far from where they are hatched, or very high either.

COWS

[Ernie]

As a part time hunting guide whose responsibilities do occasionally include tracking down a wounded deer that's run off into the brush, there ain't no "avoid the tall grass" option for me.

I saturate my blood with garlic if I think I'm going to get bit, or if I'm already being bit. Almost all blood parasites that I've ever encountered, from skeeters to leeches, dislike garlic.

In the stores they sell these little garlic oil tablets and you're supposed to take 1 a day. Take 5 a day for 2-3 days and any critters living on you or in you will crawl off in search of something better-tasting.

Yeah, I know it'll make you smell like garlic, but I bet most people would think that's an improvement over what I usually smell like.

[Ozarks Tom]

Put sulfur powder in an old sock, and dust your ankles and belt line, they hate the stuff. We keep a sock in the garage, and dust when we know we're going near tall grass or into the woods.

[mountainlaurel]

Originally Posted by Rita

I have found that spraying wrists and ankles before berry picking and then showering immediately after really prevents chigger bites.

Is your property near a large river? When we lived near a large river in MD we were plagued by what was identified as buffalo gnats. They have a little hump on their back. If we had known how bad they could be ALL summer we never would have bought the place! Nothing to be done to eliminate them that we ever found.

They're still here waiting for you to come back for a visit. They will welcome you
They are actually not as bad as they've been in the past. The stinkbugs must have done something to them. This valley is full of stinkbugs