Don’t forget – I am the US expert on chiggers! Well, there’s Lee Goff in Hawaii. Does he count, way out there? He’s better than I am…
Chiggers don’t carry any human diseases here in the USA but they can be pests of major importance. They show up in June and there’s another generation in August-September. Chiggers are the larval stage of a big red mite; they feed on vertebrate hosts as a dispersal mechanism. We people aren’t very helpful because we scratch them off right away. Their little bites itch for a few more days.
What’s your favorite remedy for chigger bites? My mother used salt and butter on my little bites. Did it help? Mom was an old farm girl. A rubdown with turpentine or coal-oil was just about the limit of rural medication. (Later in life, Mom discovered Vicks VapoRub).
Dabbing fingernail polish on chigger bites was a popular treatment in my youth. Supposedly it smothered the chigger – which was long gone anyway. Maybe the acetone eased the itch.
I used to recommend Preparation H – it had a good dose of a local anesthetic in it. However, Preparation H comes in many flavors now; choose carefully. Might be better to use something with Lidocane in it. Look for an OTC formulation with 4% or 5% concentration.
Best of all – avoid chiggers. Bug sprays will keep them at bay. So will flowers of sulfur dusted around your ankles.
If the worst happens – there’s always single malt.
Dac Crossley
July 26, 2016. Happy Birthday, Bud F!
“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one. ‘O lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.” – Voltaire.