Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
Oh Kara, how I do sympathize with all you chigger victims. I grew up in East Texas where there was a redbug (as we called them) on every grass blade. Fortunately they don't exist in the PacNW. I googled chiggers (and from your article, apparently you did, too) and found some additional helpful hints: Prevention Before going into an area where chiggers may be present, protect yourself by using a repellent such as deet (Off MGK, Muskol, Detamide, Metadelphene, Repel, Diethy-toluamide) or permethrin available at many drugstores or hardware stores. Deet-based repellents are effective for only a few hours, whereas permethrin-based repellents are for use only on clothing and effective for several days. Apply the repellent to both the skin and clothing, especially on hands, arms, or legs, if uncovered, and to clothing openings at cuffs, neck, waistband, and upper edges of socks. Follow label directions since repellents may damage plastics, nail polish, and painted or varnished surfaces. Do not use indiscriminately as severe human allergies can develop. Keep moving since the worst chigger infestations occur when sitting or laying down in a sunny spot at midday with temperatures above 60�F. If possible, stick to roads and trails. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html Ohio State University Protection Several commercially available repellents are effective against chigger infestations. These repellents usually contain one or more of the following compounds: permethrin, diethyl toluamide, dimethyl phthalate, dimethyl carbate, ethyl hexanediol and benzyl benzoate. Most repellents are also effective against mosquitos and other insects. They are formulated as liquids, aerosol sprays, solid sticks and ointments. Common dusting sulfur, although somewhat messy and odorous, is also a very effective repellent. Repellents should be used according to instructions. Usually, they provide protection from chiggers for several hours. For protection which lasts several days, saturate clothing by soaking or spraying it with a repellent solution. For further prevention, wear loose-fitting clothing and avoid sitting or reclining on the ground when camping, picnicking, or working outdoors. [Ah, those ever-helpful Aggies!] http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/L-1223.html Texas A&M University I sorta liked this one, too. At least you'll be able to tell whether or not you're going to itch all night. You can check out whether an area is infested with chiggers by using a simple technique. Six-inch squares of black paper placed vertically in the grass will become covered with chiggers if they are present. Because several hours elapse before chiggers settle down to bite, bathing soon after exposure to chigger-infested areas may wash chiggers off your body and prevent feeding. Clothing also should be washed to prevent reinfestation. http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/chiggers(008).shtml University of Nebraska, Lincoln Louise - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
affir lime, marigold, and the spice tumeric. I believe these oils would repel, but not harm other cave biology. I think they would be effective because they are warn on your skin, absorbed by your body, and under clothing with limited contact to the actual biology. I could be wrong. I welcome more learned input on the effects on cave biology before trying it myself. I have had good luck with this method when applied to children in an outdoor situation (a rosemary/lemongrass oil, specifically), and therefore believe it may have an application in caving. The other available methods of dealing with chiggers remain the salves you apply to the bites to quell the burning, itching, and insanity after they have melted and eaten your skin. I personally have had very good results with a product by the brand Oak and Ivy called Calagel. This lotion includes a bit of a skin-numbing agent, topical lidocaine, and a real blessing to chigger-bite sufferers. You might also find relief from cortisone crème or benedryl, but beware the side effects of these remedies, and educate yourself on their use and hazards before smearing them willy-nilly on yourself. Natural salves including comfrey, calendula, and marshmallow could also be of help. Always consult the package of a product you buy for ingredients and use at your own risk of allergic reaction. (the lawyers made me do it!) To prevent infection, do not scratch – yeah, right. My suggestion is that you keep your fingernails clean – yeah, right, again. We’re cavers, remember? Well, wear gloves when you sleep. I’m not kidding! Try slapping your itches away (you might like it!). Or – and this brings us back to the myth I’m trying to bust – paint them with nailpolish. See, the old wives’ tales exist for a reason, they just don’t often apply for the reasons ye olde wives pass them on, like bugs burrowing into your body, in this case. I think the old wives are just trying to scare you. You won’t be smothering the skin-drinking jerks, but you will be protecting their handiwork from your sharp, germ-ridden fingernails when you scratch. This could possibly prevent the infection and lingering pain common with a chigger bite infestation. You will want to watch the bites closely for signs of infection, relying on basic first aid techniques at the first sign of puffy redness or the pain of infection. Keep them clean! You now know more about chiggers than someone really should to get along in polite society. But if I know you, you probably don’t do that well in polite society, anyway, so please… spread the chigger gospel. Bust the myths. Rub yourself with rough towels and smelly oils. Say the word “stylostome” with pride. Just don’t use nail polish to smother the chiggers left inside those ugly, horrible, insanely itchy red welts. - Original Message From: Bill Bentley To: gi...@att.net; texascavers@texascavers.com Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 1:15:25 PM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers Gill, I am reporting I had some chigger bites too Anyone who doesn't believe in the Devil has obviously never experienced a rash of chigger bites! Pure Evil... What do they live on when people are not around? Bill - Original Message - From: To: Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:10 AM Subject: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers > I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR. Did anyone else notice them? > > Big fleas have little fleas > Upon their backs to bite 'um; > And little fleas have smaller fleas > And so, ad infintum > > --Ediger > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
Yup, Kevin & I had 'em, too. Nasty little buggers. :) Emily Greater Houston Grotto - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers wiki solar nano power and re-recycling
How nano power solar chiggers genetically designed to feed on ticks and mosquitoes and they leave crude oil and aluminum as a by product? Bill - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] TCR chiggers wiki
-- Original message -- From: "Brian Riordan" > From Wikipedia: > >The North American genus and species can cause severe illness in children. > This only occurs when the infestation is particularly heavy. *>Symptoms > include a hallucinatory sense of floating outside one's body, fatigue, fever > and general malaise.* > ** > Anybody have chigger bites like that?! Hmmm? I guess one doesn't have to have them all to qualify. There have been several TSA meetings where I experienced an hallucinatory sense of floating outside my body, but I'm fairly sure it had nothing to do with chigger bites--but who knows? Fatigue has been a common theme at the end of most days following hard work or caving and caver politics. Fever is essentially unknown to me except when I have the flu. General Malaise has been a standard symptom throughout my life. It's good to know that I now have something to blame it on. --Ediger - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
>From Wikipedia: >The North American genus and species can cause severe illness in children. This only occurs when the infestation is particularly heavy. *>Symptoms include a hallucinatory sense of floating outside one's body, fatigue, fever and general malaise.* ** Anybody have chigger bites like that?! -B On 10/30/07, Louise Power wrote: > > For more on Chiggers (aka, harvest mites, red bugs, etc), see: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_mite > > Louise > > -- > From: *"Bill Bentley" * > To: *,* > Subject: *Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers* > Date: *Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:15:25 -0600* > MIME-Version: *1.0* > Received: *from raistlin.wokka.org ([69.56.185.90]) by > bay0-mc6-f6.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668); Tue, > 30 Oct 2007 10:15:43 -0700* > Received: *(qmail 66615 invoked by uid 89); 30 Oct 2007 17:15:42 -* > Received: *(qmail 66606 invoked by uid 31338); 30 Oct 2007 17:15:42 - > * > Gill, > I am reporting I had some chigger bites too > > Anyone who doesn't believe in the Devil has obviously never experienced a > rash of chigger bites! > > Pure Evil... What do they live on when people are not around? > > Bill > - Original Message - > From: > To: > Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:10 AM > Subject: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers > > > > I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR. > Did anyone else notice them? > > > > Big fleas have little fleas > > Upon their backs to bite 'um; > > And little fleas have smaller fleas > > And so, ad infintum > > > > --Ediger > > > > - > > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > > > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: > texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: > texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
For more on Chiggers (aka, harvest mites, red bugs, etc), see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_miteLouise From: "Bill Bentley" To: ,Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggersDate: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:15:25 -0600MIME-Version: 1.0Received: from raistlin.wokka.org ([69.56.185.90]) by bay0-mc6-f6.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668); Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:15:43 -0700Received: (qmail 66615 invoked by uid 89); 30 Oct 2007 17:15:42 -Received: (qmail 66606 invoked by uid 31338); 30 Oct 2007 17:15:42 -Gill, I am reporting I had some chigger bites tooAnyone who doesn't believe in the Devil has obviously never experienced arash of chigger bites!Pure Evil... What do they live on when people are not around?Bill- Original Message -From: To: Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:10 AMSubject: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers> I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR.Did anyone else notice them?>> Big fleas have little fleas> Upon their backs to bite 'um;> And little fleas have smaller fleas> And so, ad infintum>> --Ediger>> -> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com> To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com> For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com>-Visit our website: http://texascavers.comTo unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.comFor additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
Gill, I am reporting I had some chigger bites too Anyone who doesn't believe in the Devil has obviously never experienced a rash of chigger bites! Pure Evil... What do they live on when people are not around? Bill - Original Message - From: To: Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:10 AM Subject: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers > I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR. Did anyone else notice them? > > Big fleas have little fleas > Upon their backs to bite 'um; > And little fleas have smaller fleas > And so, ad infintum > > --Ediger > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] TCR chiggers
I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR. Did anyone else notice them? Big fleas have little fleas Upon their backs to bite 'um; And little fleas have smaller fleas And so, ad infintum --Ediger - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
