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General Discussion => General Forum => Topic started by: Southerngobbler on March 29, 2019, 02:46:04 PM

Title: Chiggers
Post by: Southerngobbler on March 29, 2019, 02:46:04 PM
Does anyone know what a chigger looks like. Can you even see them on you? I occasionally see a little bright red or orange bug crawling on me about the size of a period at the end of a sentence. If it wasn't for the bright color I probable wouldn't even see it. Im just curios if these are actually chiggers as some people refer to chiggers as red bugs and these are very red. Does anyone know if chiggers are bright red or orange? What ever they are the move fairly quick for their small size.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Plush on March 29, 2019, 02:52:27 PM
Yes, what you are describing is likely a chigger.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Happy on March 29, 2019, 02:54:32 PM
Sounds like chigger. I have been tore up by them more times than I care to remember
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: catman529 on March 29, 2019, 02:56:46 PM
I think the immature ones are the ones you can't see that bite, the red ones you see are mature and I'm not sure if they bite or not, can anyone confirm? I could be totally wrong.


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Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: bbcoach on March 29, 2019, 02:57:23 PM
Never seen them but they make you very uncomfortable for a week or two.  Permethrin on your clothes will keep you from getting those nasty red bites.  They are chiggers and in some parts of the country they are called No See Em's, so they must be very small. 
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Happy on March 29, 2019, 03:00:23 PM
My understanding is the red welts that you get are from them laying their eggs in your skin and then hatching. I could be wrong but I know one thing for sure. It sucks getting into them. Permethrin has solved that problem for me.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: kjnengr on March 29, 2019, 03:14:52 PM
Quote from: catman529 on March 29, 2019, 02:56:46 PM
I think the immature ones are the ones you can't see that bite, the red ones you see are mature and I'm not sure if they bite or not, can anyone confirm? I could be totally wrong.


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From my brief research, this is correct.  Where I deer hunt in North Mississippi these things are brutal. If you walk through tall grass and haven't applied some kind of bug dope, it's not uncommon to get 40 or so bites.  I keep a tube of hydrocortisone cream in my overnight bag because it's impossible to sleep with that much itching going on.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Happy on March 29, 2019, 03:17:23 PM
A quick goggle search shows I was wrong. Looks like they eat skin cells and during the process inject some gunk that kills skin cells. Didn't read anything about mature vs young though.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: kjnengr on March 29, 2019, 03:18:56 PM
https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3809 (https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3809)
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Tomfoolery on March 29, 2019, 03:44:32 PM
Them suckers used to tear me up when i was young. My dad would bring me squirrel hunting and we would sit on the ground and wait for daylight. Man I'd have bites all over my sack and my ankles. I make sure and spray now days and spray my kids.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: daddyduke on March 29, 2019, 04:10:00 PM
I thought I had got into a bunch of chiggers, turned out to be lonestar tick larve. That's how I became allergic to all red meat. Over 4 years ago.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: tomstopper on March 29, 2019, 04:23:04 PM
In the Marines we used to do field opps and I remember getting done and a couple days later sitting in the barracks and itching so bad that I used my Kbar to scrape my legs. They are not fun at all. I don't go out now without spraying down first

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Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: kjnengr on March 29, 2019, 04:33:37 PM
Quote from: daddyduke on March 29, 2019, 04:10:00 PM
I thought I had got into a bunch of chiggers, turned out to be lonestar tick larve. That's how I became allergic to all red meat. Over 4 years ago.

One of the articles I just read said that now they believe that chigger larvae can cause alpha-gal as well.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: SinGin on April 06, 2019, 08:09:01 AM
If I'm ever blessed to make it to Heaven my first questuofor God is, duded what's up with chiggers.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Divenut2 on April 06, 2019, 08:57:18 AM
Oh ya, I hate them little buggers. Gotta nailed a couple years in a row after working around the property. Nasty rash, blisters
and itchy as heck. Determined they hung out in the tall grass and weeds on the edge of the property. I now wear look sleeves and spray my clothes with repellent whenever working in that area. Stinks when it's hot out, but much better than getting hit by them chiggers.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: sbbow on April 06, 2019, 10:55:44 AM
Like these lol(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/d1bb10c4c19d39818dff96a6dfcc1929.jpg)


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Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: SteelerFan on April 06, 2019, 11:01:53 AM
^^^^ That's what the nice ones look like!
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Gobbler428 on April 06, 2019, 06:38:16 PM
If you really want a good dose of chiggers, just sit down in pine straw right after a good rain. They love wet pine straw.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: spaightlabs on April 06, 2019, 07:41:08 PM
Quote from: daddyduke on March 29, 2019, 04:10:00 PM
I thought I had got into a bunch of chiggers, turned out to be lonestar tick larve. That's how I became allergic to all red meat. Over 4 years ago.

Man, I'm sorry to hear that.

Without a doubt I would be dead if I couldn't eat red meat.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: LaLongbeard on April 06, 2019, 07:41:20 PM
Permethrin works as well on chiggers as ticks. They are horrible in the summer here but a dose of permethrin and never a bite
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Gooserbat on April 06, 2019, 10:54:08 PM
I don't know everything about them but I've had a lot of experience with them.  Worst little things I know of.

A method of treatment that works well and is affordable is to take a regular 16 oz sized bottle of the green menthol rubbing alcohol.  Then take 50 ( yes 50) regular 325 mg plain aspirin and dissolve in the alcohol.  Rub it on the bites. 

Same concoction works on poison ivy, tick bites, and chiggers.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Cut N Run on April 06, 2019, 11:09:07 PM
They look just like miniature ticks.  I hate 'em.  I'm a chigger magnet too.  About 30 years ago, I walked the edges of an over-grown airstrip and got over 250 bites on each leg. They especially like to gather at leg and waistbands of underwear.

Like LaLongbeard said, Permethrin works.  It not only repels them, it kills them.  I carry a roll of paper towels and a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the truck in case I get into some chiggers. If you can wipe your legs down with alcohol before they bite, it kills them and gets them off you in a hurry.

Jim
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Sasha and Abby on April 07, 2019, 05:25:38 AM
PREVENTION is the best medicine -permethian or OFF spray to ward them off.  For you hardheads that get tore up, Tea Tree Oil is the ONLY thing I have ever found that will mitigate a bite from a 20 day ordeal down to a 2 day bother...
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Clydetaylor1 on April 07, 2019, 04:07:32 PM
Quote from: sbbow on April 06, 2019, 10:55:44 AM
Like these lol(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190406/d1bb10c4c19d39818dff96a6dfcc1929.jpg)

That looks about right.
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Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: roberthyman14 on April 07, 2019, 08:11:54 PM
Quote from: Gobbler428 on April 06, 2019, 06:38:16 PM
If you really want a good dose of chiggers, just sit down in pine straw right after a good rain. They love wet pine straw.
Almost as bad as moss in oaks trees here in the south

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Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Cottonmouth on April 09, 2019, 04:58:22 PM
Believe it or not I've never been bitten by them. I'm in central MS and when we were kids, we would pick blackberries in the summer and my brother would get hammered by them. I must have some bad blood or something they don't like. Whatever it is, I'm glad I got it.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: bbcoach on April 09, 2019, 08:06:48 PM
Quote from: Cottonmouth on April 09, 2019, 04:58:22 PM
Believe it or not I've never been bitten by them. I'm in central MS and when we were kids, we would pick blackberries in the summer and my brother would get hammered by them. I must have some bad blood or something they don't like. Whatever it is, I'm glad I got it.
I hope you never get them but you know what happens when you say NEVER.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Cottonmouth on April 11, 2019, 04:57:12 PM
Quote from: bbcoach on April 09, 2019, 08:06:48 PM
Quote from: Cottonmouth on April 09, 2019, 04:58:22 PM
Believe it or not I've never been bitten by them. I'm in central MS and when we were kids, we would pick blackberries in the summer and my brother would get hammered by them. I must have some bad blood or something they don't like. Whatever it is, I'm glad I got it.
I hope you never get them but you know what happens when you say NEVER.
Yeah I'm probably asking for it.
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: DumpTruckTurkey on April 12, 2019, 09:18:51 AM
Quote from: bbcoach on March 29, 2019, 02:57:23 PM
Never seen them but they make you very uncomfortable for a week or two.  Permethrin on your clothes will keep you from getting those nasty red bites.  They are chiggers and in some parts of the country they are called No See Em's, so they must be very small.

Chiggers are horrible, my gf got them for the 1st time last year and was freaking out about to go to the doc lol.

NoSeeUms are flying mosqiuoto like biting bugs that kind of hurt and itch... they are clear/orange color and while the also are horrible, they are nothing compared to chiggers.

Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Tunaguy on April 12, 2019, 11:03:34 AM
Last year I had bites that lasted over a month. I hate em'!
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: Bowguy on April 12, 2019, 11:13:27 AM
Hate those nasty things
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: g8rvet on April 12, 2019, 01:27:22 PM
No see 'ums are larger than chiggers (red bugs) and they bite-we call them flying mouth parts.  If you think they are not as bad as chiggers, you need to come spend a weekend at my place at the beach here in North Florida.  They are murder, just in a different way. Breezy days keep them at bay though.  The big difference, is their agony lasts 24 hours at worst-but while they are chewing on you, it sucks - I keep my hair very short and they will chew on your head too if you have short hair.  Chigger's give their gift for a while.  I prefer no see 'ums to chiggers, cause you know they are biting you and can at least get away from them.  Regular screens do not stop them, it needs to be very small screening to keep them out. Thermacells work on no see um's too.

They both suck.   
Title: Re: Chiggers
Post by: cwb04 on April 12, 2019, 03:14:36 PM
I have been tore up more times then I care to remember.  There can be 30 people standing around and I will be the only one to get them.  Spent many a night sleeping in a bleach bath. 

As someone already mentioned - tea tree oil will take away the itch.  Nobody wants to be around you when you cover yourself in tea tree oil, but I promise it is well worth it.

Never tried this, but a good friend said that Vagisil works really well also.  Considering what it's for, I would imagine it probably does work well.  Send the wife out for some!