Posted on 08/01/2025 6:03:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
If you got what might be mistaken for a mosquito bite, but if the effect and itch hangs on a lot longer, and it’s in a well covered (and usually tight) spot, say, under a belt or under heavy socks — it might well be that a chigger has drilled you. They don’t actually burrow into and stay under the skin, but, they will stay “on” a “bite” until dislodged* - usually by scratching caused by the itching. They may be rubbed to a new, nearby location by clothing movement across your skin, resulting in clusters of “bites”.
What I do if I think I may have been exposed is rub a little isopropyl alcohol onto my feet / ankles, waistline, and, yes, crotch, scrotum, etc. (Sorry to be graphic, but, chiggers drilling into a private part “ain’t no fun at all”.) Alcohol based hand sanitizer works too.
(This also seems to prevent, for me, if applied right after exposure, poison ivy rashes. I suspect it breaks down the urushiol. Most any solvent or potent soap will do, but a small bottle of sanitizer is convenient to have on hand. Urushiol is really nasty stuff - it can hang around and stay active on surfaces for years.)
(No, for any wise-*** reading, I don’t need to do this for poison ivy exposure to private parts — ever!!)
If I have an itch or any redness started from any of these causes, I upgrade to acetone based nail polish remover, or even just acetone on occasion. (Acetone will flash off much faster, which may or may not be considered a positive.) Acetone definitely seems to diminish the itching, and it most definitely will immediately kill a chigger. I suspect it penetrates the skin somewhat, and disrupts some of the chigger’s enzymes it was using to dissolve a little bit of YOU. SFAIK, light exposure to acetone on skin is not terribly harmful. I sure would not soak in it, however!
Yes, I bought a fairly powerful UV flashlight, mainly for that very purpose. It works well on a really dark night, but, night B4 last was not that dark when I went out to the garden. (Moonlight). I hunted again that morning but only found one hornworm. The others were better hidden, it would seem. :-(
Yes, I’ve seen those wasp larvae on hornworms, but not for several years, for some reason.
When I was a kid, I felt sorry for the hornworm so afflicted.
Not so much, later on...
A good coverage with 40% DEET repellent on the lower 2/3 of my body / clothing usually does a pretty good job of repelling ticks for me. Mosquitos, too. Repeat after 3-4 hours. Some of the places I hike in to for fishing involve lots of tall grass and / or weeds / brush. Especially if it’s a trail, chiggers and ticks get attracted by the scent left behind by previous trail travelers, human or otherwise.
I used to have some permethrin infused socks that works well for me, but, it washes out. I’ve tried spraying socks with permethrin well ahead of needing to use them (ie., days of drying.) Those worked too, and I didn’t notice any unusual feel to any of these. It’s just problematic if I forget and think the socks were treated, and I got them mixed up with socks not treated. It’s easier for me to just have a can of 40% DEET on the shelf on the back porch. Or a small one in my backpack.
Most DEET based repellents have the very bad attribute of dissolving some plastics. I killed a $35 Casio watch that way. (The control / adjustment buttons welded to the watch body!)
I don’t really “like” DEET, but I’ve gotten to where I tolerate it... In fact, I use so much DEET, I need to remember to do a web search for the stuff in bulk. It will keep for a very long time in a well sealed glass / metal container. And I must have at least half a dozen emptied pump spray repellent bottles in a little box in my shop.
I have no idea if this stuff is any good. Too few reviews to draw any conclusion. I do know lemon oil doesn’t do much for me.
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Deet-Free-Insect-Repellent-Gallon/dp/B007W367ZK
Best price per ounce so far, but the cans are a bit large to take on the trail:
https://www.amazon.com/Cutter-HG-86647-Insect-Repellent-Brown/dp/B07XG1GYV9/ref=sr_1_8?sr=8-8
Thanks for the advice. Thankfully I have never been bitten even though I have lived in the woods for over 30 years. So I thought we must not have them. At least I’ll know what to do.
GRILLED ONION WRAPS / one onion per serving
ING lge Vidalia 1 beef bouillon cube 1 cup grated Parm 2 tbl butter 1/8 tsp onion powder 1 gar/cl
Core center of trimmed/peeled onion, leaving small portion at bottom. Insert bouillon cube and lge peeled gar/cl in centers. Slice through center towards the outer edges about an inch without slicing thru. Insert slices of butter between cuts; place butter atop bullion cube. Sprinkle w/ onion powder. Can add bacon bits. Wrap tightly in heavy duty foil; place on gas grill or directly on coals. Cook 60 min til onion is tender. Serve sprinkled with Parm.
"And Diana, you'll be happy to hear that I completely cleaned up from this project and even went a little further to move something I was tripping over to the travel trailer, as excruciating as that all was, like a bad dream to me now;) "
Proud of ya! :)
After making a mess and cleaning up the kitchen yesterday, I am all set up to can my 55-gallon drum of V-8 Juice this morning. :) Not quite THAT much, but I wanted to be done with it, so I made more than I normally do at a time. I've got pears and apples to deal with, next. Grapes are TINY this season from too much rain, which makes absolutely no sense, but it is what it is.
When that's done, Ill be mowing, too. And dog/barn chores since Beau got his BELOVED skid steer back from repair and he's off Mowing For Dollars, all day.
And we're OFF! :)
I ‘may’ have found green beans at a local market. There are pictures of bushel baskets with various varieties of green beans, but no price per pound visible. I am going to check them out after they open at 11:00 this morning ... fingers crossed I have better luck than with the peaches!
We had two ‘gully washer’ downpours yesterday & one the day before. No water on the floor from the roof leak, but the ceiling is looking worse. Hopefully, one of the two roofs ahead of us got done this week. The local weather met is calling for more glorious pre-fall low humidity/cool weather for the last week in August or thereabouts so maybe the roofer will have good weather for our project.
The green beans were picked over & didn’t look so good. Additionally, they have a lot of ‘curl’ so they won’t fit nicely into a pint jar. I give up on dilly beans!
I have a 5-bean salad recipe from the Silver Palate Chefs and have made it before - very tasty & nothing like the jarred/canned bean salad you get in the store. I think that is what I’ll make for a cold side dish that has a fresh taste & a little tang to it (red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon, garlic, lemon zest).
The Rose of Sharon bushes arrived this afternoon. They're all in pretty good shape, if a little dry, so they'll get a good watering shortly. They are bigger than I thought they'd be and blooming! They are covered in buds, so lots of blooms for the future. Mom likes the color.
Grabbed some shelf brackets after work today for the long shelf to put my seed trays in one row, end to end, and grabbed shorter brackets to hang the lights above them. Three of the shorter brackets and I'll run a furring strip or something across them to hang the lights from.
Need to get a few more of these ratchet rope gadgets. Pull the rope to raise, push a lever to lower. I've been messing around with little chain and S hooks which was a real pain with the stacked shelves. I've got two types and one lowers easier than the other so I'll go back through my ebay purchase history and grab more. IIRC they were the cheaper ones too. Little thinner cord but a 2' LED light weighs nothing.
Sun is on the shed right now but once it's down past the trees, I'll head back there and see about putting shelves up. I think I've come up with a simple design to hang shelves from the frame of the tunnel too. Custom shelf bracket that I could set tools/parts on and be able to move it with me. Thought of it while thinking about wiring and other work on the tunnel but I could also use them as seed tray shelves. Put another layer of plastic on inside of frame behind the seed trays. Chunk of shade cloth for a few days of hardening off. Could get trays out of the shed quick.
I grabbed a 50' air hose yesterday but forgot quick connect ends so I grabbed them today and will put those on too. Then the old leaky hose can come up here for the old compressor. I can shorten one end by a foot and get rid of the biggest leak. Need a new one but at over $40, the second one can wait. All I need up here is to fill a tire with a slow leak on occasion etc.
I don't know how the winery grape growers around here are doing this year. I used to drive by a few one my way to the old job and might have seen some indication.
I usually have few problems with chiggers even here in the mid-South, in woods with dense canopies and little undergrowth where I’m walking. OTOH, mowing a ditch that stays moist and with long grass in it could be real trouble if I don’t slather on the DEET...
Very pretty! I know you and you mom will enjoy those for many years!
We are into our ususal August cold and rainy season. We have obsessive compulsive weather. Gee I think I will be hot dry and smokey. Now I will be cold and wet for a few days. we have been processing green beans and peas, and the cabbages are starting to head up. The lillies and dahlias are still going strong. I have been engaged in mechanical pusrsuits. I have been spending the last week or so in upgrading the heating system in the shop and hangar. After all, it’s only been 26 years since I installed it. Some how at 73, shoveling pit run gravel is not as much fun as it used to be. It seems like it is one megaproject after another these days. I need some elves!
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