Do you live in chigger country?

Chiggers---I've lived with them all my whole life and didn't realize for a long time that there are places (even rural places) in the USA that DON'T have chiggers (or no-see-ums). My husband works in an emergency room at a hospital and says they get newbies that come in with a chigger bite. They think they've been bitten by a spider.

I live in the middle of chigger country and I have not had a bite in years. We have plenty of free ranging poultry who eat them and we keep paths mowed. I also second Ernie's garlic suggestion. We eat a ton of fresh garlic in the summer and we rarely get bug bites of any sort. The little black bugs are gnats of some sort and pure vanilla extract will keep them away. I mix it with water and spray it on me during gnat season which is very limited here.

where can you get the stuff?

You can get sulfur at most garden centers. It's a commonly used soil additive.

Yep, we used to put a hand full of sulfur in each pocket before berry picking. It filters down through your clothing over time and you get no chiggers. A product called Buggins will take care of the buffalo gnats.

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Buffalo gnats are not repelled by vanilla extract at all here. Many of us have tried it and I never heard anyone say it works. It may stop other gnats though. A product called Buggins does work and it does have vanilla in it along with some oil or something from roses and I don't know what else. Smells pretty good and a simple spray on each shoulder and your hat will keep them away.

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I was mowing for the city one time and ran over a matress and box spring with a batwing mower in 4 foot tall grass. I layed under that mower for almost 2 hours before I got it cut loose. Next day I was so ate up with chiggers I had to go to the doctor. He gave me some stuff called Quell that they use to kill body lice and it worked a miracle. Immediate relief. When I tried to get some more he said it was Rx only but I could get this stuff for headlice called Rid over the counter. It works great. Now when I shower in the evening I put it on, Wait 10 minutes, shower it off and havn't had a chigger bite in 10 years. Try it

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Have not tried it yet but several of my neighbors recommend bathing in a shampoo made to get rid of head lice. According to them it works wonders.

Someone mentioned "chigger weed" I have only heard of that once before. My husband was taught that wild butterfly "bushes, were covered in chiggers--and thats what made them orange. Obviously not true-anyone else think this? early in the morning, chiggers arent as bad, and do avoid tall weeds

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Your Guineas must have terrific eyesight!

LFG, much of the advice you have been given is good. Some years are worse than others for chiggers. Some areas are also worse than others... it seems like you can always count on them in any bramble patch. The shower as soon as possible after being in the weeds is your first priority. Chiggers are tiny. It is a mite about the size of a speck of red pepper. It usually takes them a while to get to the "tight" places in your clothing. BTW, when you take off your clothes, put them in a bucket of water or something first "outside" If you bring them inside, they are just going to take a longer time to find you again. (This is easier if you don't have close neighbors )

As for the no-see-ums.. I can't help you. I lived up there for a year and got bit a lot.

Guineas do have wonderful eyesight. Any bird that pecks food off the ground has to have good eyesight.

COWS

Yep, chiggers and buffalo gnats are horrible. I spray a vanilla mix I made on my face often and as for chiggers.....well....I just run a bath and put some bleach in. Kills them pretty quick.

Here ya go, only thing guaranteed to work. And NON-carcenogenic.

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Haddum bad here 30yrs ago, and ticks also. Chickens took care of that. But ive got to say, I walk where the chickens don't go and am still not bothered. Something changed

When I was a kid in Florida during the 50s and early 60s, in addition to sulfur dusting, my parents gave me sulfur tablets/ lozenges to eat before outings and hikes. That was before DEET existed, I'm sure, and I'd not be a bit surprised if there's some level of overdose of eating sulfur that'd have effects much worse than those of chigger bites. Be that as it may, it did seem to work, at least as far as I could tell as a kid. Dunno if parents checked with an MD about that or just took somebody's folk-remedy sort of word and did it to me.

1- I get chiggers from standing still too long one place esp. tall grass or weeds- got the most digging/putting up fence. But the rare times (now) I get 'em a dab of nail polish really does fix it for me. But leave it on- if I remove it then reapply, no good. Don't understand the science of why, but works for me- worth trying. And I spend 10-90 minutes outside every day walking (maybe that's the key- but I do hold still now and then) through my erratically mowed grass. Have gotten chigger bite when I rewore clothes I'd had on the floor- think a dog or cat laid on the clothing and passed it on- it was much worse than a flea bite. So no longer do that and chase cats off my bed yikes!

2- Ridd and Kwell are toxic pesticides. Use when you have to but PLEASE don't use on babies under 1 year and PLEASE don't use it every night. Leads to them being resistant to it, and poisons you with that constant exposure. Much safer to use bug spray daily than that.

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The sulfur seems to be working. Also, I've been dusting sulfur around the pole I'm working on and it seems to slow down the skeeters.

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I do most of the same for shiggers. As far as the black gnats. wear a hat with a broad a brim as possilbe ans pray it. If its really bad I have a "netting " hat I got off ebay. At least they cant get close to your face. In fact you can whole suits of the stuff pretty cheap. Also there is some natural spray called "liquid net" that you can spray on yourself and they make it to spray yur yard. Maybe spray just an area or a band around he house

Also there is some stuff you can spray on your clothes and it will last for four or six washings. Its been talked about here and on the survival sites I think. Maybe someone here can remember. Im sure I have it "stashed" somewhere


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...%3Ahat+netting

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1111399...Types&var=sbar

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1.) Most of the utility linemen around here, who deal with this every day, have taken to wearing a cattle insecticidal ear tag laced up in their bootlaces on each work boot. It is said to repel ticks and chiggers, as well as do a pretty good job with Tiger mosquitos. I have never tried it but quite a few of them do it.

2.) I too use Deep Woods Off with great results.

3.) I shower vigorously immediately after coming in from working in pastures, etc., in chigger season.

4.) In the absence of a shower, if you can remove your clothing and use a bath towel or large rag to vigorously rub yourself down, and put different clothes back on, then you can eliminate a lot of chigger problems with just that.

I've had 'em bad once, so bad I could barely walk because they had found all my tenderest places, and that will make a true believer out of you when it comes to religiously spraying before you leave and then showering after you get back. Few bites over 15 years and no bites at all for 2 years using #2 and #3 above in combination, every time - plus no mosquitos and I am a mosquito magnet.

I hate Tiger mosquitos, which will bite any time of day or night and often are so stealthy you don't know they bit until the dime-sized welt rises up.

ChiggerX is good stuff for all insect bites.

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
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I keep a can of bug spray next to my back door. Before I go out I spray my feet and ankles well and my clothes lightly. I then spray my arms.

In the evening I check for any itchy spots, and I spray them with bug repellant as it makes the chiggers drop off or die: I cannot see them and so I do not know!

That is how I manage living in chigger country.