Chiggers DO NOT burrow into you!

[pigstikr]

take vitamin B-1 daily during the summer and you will never get a chigger, ticks dont like it either.

[techsan]

This is a great thread. I got into them at the lease last weekend, and this is good info.....It doesn't make the itch go away though.

x2

[DRT]

I've been taking cider vinegar capsules. Supposedly they ward off the little buggers too.

[Big Sendero]

I remember going to my grandfathers house in Emory when I was a kid and he had a 5 gallon bucket on the back porch and inside that bucket he had powdered sulfer inside a sock.

Papa would take that sock and slap it all over us kids and then we would hit the woods and explore and play all day long. Good times for sure!!!

I'm 40 now and still keep a sulfer stuffed sock in a zip lock bag in the garage. If I know I'm hitting the woods in the summer, it gets thrown in the back of the truck and I give myself a good dusting before starting my scouting.

[jbitt4x4]

Huh?.....he just said no bleach bath required...just warm soapy shower

I know a bleach bath works for killing chiggers and seed ticks. I also think it relieves the itching and help neturalize the posion. Chigger Ex cream will also helps. Sulfer works but man you stink.

[jbitt4x4]

......I'm gonna listen

Thank you Russ

I've posted links to this and several other articles over the years on several forums including this one, only to be ignored because old wives tales prevail...

[buzzcut]

I'll be glad when you greenhorns get this stuff figured out,these multi-page threads are challenging my ADAH!

[mhbaseball]

That is disgusting, I would be so pressured to stratch the hell out of that like poison ivy. That looks bad and painful

[buzzcut]

Yes and the above photo was probably taken in between scratching sessions! If I had them that bad I would submerge my feet in a tub of ice water and not take them out or leave the house for 5 days! Yikes!

[Dusty Britches]

Thank you Russ

I've posted links to this and several other articles over the years on several forums including this one, only to be ignored because old wives tales prevail...

Ditto.

Many years ago, I got into them real bad. Buzzcuts' photo is mild compared to what I got into. I must have had over 1000 bites, hundreds on each foot and ankle and further up. So many, I could not even put on a pair of shoes or flip flops, pants, or shorts. After 3 days, I started getting feverish, like the flu. A friend of mine mother was a RN and she recommended I sit in a lukewarm bath with one cup of bleach for 15 minutes for a few days. That helped significantly open the pores and draw out the toxins. I also took Benedryll for several days. I'll never forget that experience - makes me itch just thinking about it.

To say I hate chiggars is an understatement.

[equin]

I'm curious to know how the Native American population and early settlers dealt with chiggers in the olden days without sulphur powder and today's Deep Woods Off insect repellants.

[dr730]

I'm curious to know how the Native American population and early settlers dealt with chiggers in the olden days without sulphur powder and today's Deep Woods Off insect repellants.

Good question. Seems like a loincloth wouldn't be much protection huh

They were probably just so used to them that they didn't even have a reaction.

[mhundt]

I'm curious to know how the Native American population and early settlers dealt with chiggers in the olden days without sulphur powder and today's Deep Woods Off insect repellants.

Hi, equin - I read somewhere awhile back that bear grease (rancid?) mixed with Goldenseal (a perennial herb) was used as an insect repellent by Native Americans. And Gulf of Mexico Native Americans used alligator grease, I think.
Maybe it worked because the insects couldn't penetrate the coating!

[Philip-TX]

I remember going to my grandfathers house in Emory when I was a kid and he had a 5 gallon bucket on the back porch and inside that bucket he had powdered sulfer inside a sock.

Papa would take that sock and slap it all over us kids and then we would hit the woods and explore and play all day long. Good times for sure!!!

I'm 40 now and still keep a sulfer stuffed sock in a zip lock bag in the garage. If I know I'm hitting the woods in the summer, it gets thrown in the back of the truck and I give myself a good dusting before starting my scouting.

Yep,

Powder sulphur in an old sock. Dab it around ankles and waist.

I like Campo-Phenique to relieve itching IF I DO get 'em. Works great for stings, and all sorts of insect bites.

[LETRRIP]

The reason Campho-Phenique works is because it contains 5% Phenol. Phenol in larger contcenrations is deadly. It attacks the nerve ending first and numbs the area that is absorbing the Phenol.

In a 5% concentration it is harmless and helps tremondously to numb the itch.