Nature's World: With chiggers, nothing figures

Staff

Published Saturday, July 31, 2004

By Al Batt, Tribune columnist

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

"How are you doing?" I ask.

"Well, my stomach still fits me, so let's have some grub. The good news is that I can still get into the socks I wore in high school.

The bad news is that I need a job.

That fact bothers me like a pimple on prom night. I have more bills than a Tyson chicken factory.

I need your help."

"I'd like to help, but this family already has someone who does nothing - me."

"All I need you to do is to call 40 or 50 employers for me.

Put in a good word with them.

Tell them that my middle initial, J, stands for genius. Lie if you have to.

It'd probably be a good idea. Then I need you to make 500 copies of my resume.

Do that right after you've written my resume for me.

Oh, I'll need you to do some letters of references for me.

Please try to have all of this done by the time I finish my nap. I'd do some of it myself, but that would just bewilder up the day for me. Oops!

I almost forgot. I need you to write a surefire ad for me and place it in the 'positions wanted' section of the newspaper."

"You need to identify yourself in those ads.

You know, 'college educated,' 'experienced,' or 'willing to start immediately.' What should I call you?"

"A self-starter."

Chiggers

"Here's to the chigger, the bug that's no bigger than the point of a good-size pin.

But the point that he raises itches like the blazes - and that's where the rub comes in."

Those are the words of Herm Albright.

He says it well.

Chiggers like me.

The feeling is not mutual.

I am pepperoni pizza to a chigger.

Chigger is a common name used to describe the larval stage of mites that are parasitic on warm-blooded animals, including humans.

Chigger bites characteristically cause intense itching and the formation of small, reddish welts.

These welts can really itch.

It's an itch that we shouldn't scratch for fear of causing an infection.

The larvae crawl onto vegetation and attach themselves to passing people or mammals.

They wander over the surface of the skin before attaching themselves at a hair follicle or skin pore.

The attachment site on people is usually where the clothing fits tightly over the skin or where the skin is thin or wrinkled.

They like to get me behind the knee, along my sock tops and around my waistband.

Chiggers inject a digestive fluid containing enzymes that cause skin cells to rupture.

It is these injected enzymes that cause our skin to become red, swollen and itchy. Welts typically appear within three to six hours after exposure. Chiggers do not burrow into the skin or feed on blood.

The fluids from the skin cells are consumed as food. When the chigger larvae are fully fed, they drop off.

This process could take from one to four days.

Chigger mite larvae are about 1/150 to 1/120 inch in diameter.

They are a light red, orange or yellow in color and have six legs.

For its size, a chigger causes a lot of torment.

Some have told me that the reddish welts are as irritating as an acute case of poison ivy.

How do you prevent chiggers from getting you?

I've asked a lot of folks this question.

Here are some replies that I received from fellow chigger sufferers.

A retired doctor advised getting some powdered sulfur (obtainable at a drug store) and dusting your socks with it.

Patting the socks to distribute it equally.

Spray Deep Woods Off on your shoes and the bottom of your pants legs.

Don't sit in the grass.

Take a hot, soapy bath or shower immediately upon returning from chigger-infested areas.

Now let's say you are like me and didn't prepare properly.

You didn't batten down the hatches and the chiggers got you. You moan and groan, whimper and whine, and cry, "Why me?" These are all good, but what else can you do about the red itchy welts?

Here are some things to try.

One requirement to stop the itching is to seal the skin from contact with the air. Someone swears that each of these methods works for them.

I do know that they don't work for all of us. I also know that the sooner the treatment, the better the results.

Apply Sama lotion to the bites in the morning and the evening.

Sama is a non-steroid lotion.

Apply nail polish to the bite.

Take an oatmeal soap bath.

Apply calamine lotion, caladryl, Vaseline, cold cream, baby oil, Gold Bond Medicated Anti-itch Cream, benzocaine, After Bite, New Skin or hydrocortisone.

Apply nasal crom or emu oil.

Soak in Epsom salts.

Apply tobacco juice.

The hardest part may be chewing the tobacco first.

Rub crushed plantain leaves or spotted jewelweed (touch-me-not) on the bites.

When it comes to chiggers, nothing figures.

If you have something that works for you, let me know.

I wish you all chigger-free days.

Baby birds

We see a baby bird and our first inclination is to rescue it.

If the little bird is mobile, the best thing we can do is to leave it alone.

The parents are nearby and they will do a much better job of raising a baby bird than we would be able to.

If it is a very young bird that might have fallen out of the nest and could become prey for a cat, put it back in the nest if that is possible.

Otherwise, put it in a secure place where the parents could attend to it.

You needn't worry about leaving a scent when you handle the bird.

It makes no difference to the parents.

Besides, their sense of smell is not very well developed.

Raining?

I met a fellow in Illinois who had a nice rain gauge mounted in the box of his old pickup.

When I asked him why he had the precipitation measuring device located so, he replied, "No matter where I am, I like to know how much rain we got."

The Pelican Breeze

Please join me as I host a cruise on the Pelican Breeze on Aug. 29 at 2 and 4 p.m.

The Pelican Breeze is more than just a wonderful double-decker pontoon manned by a delightful crew that floats beautiful Albert Lea Lake.

It's fun!

Please make my life better by joining my on Aug. 29.

To book a seat, call 383-2630.

Etcetera

"Here is your country.

Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources...the history...the romance, for your children and your children's children.

Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance." - Theodore Roosevelt

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." - Sir John Lubbock

DO GOOD.

(E-mail Al Batt at SnoEowl@aol.com.)

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---