A Word About Chiggers:

 

If you look up chiggers they are described as tiny immature mites that latch onto human skin and feed on it. That would be the more technical description. I have my own definition:  They are tiny little red bugs that come from the very pits of hell. They itch miserably and when you think the itching is finally over it starts all over again. 

They like to live where it is wet or moist and since we live in a temperate rainforest we are in their home base headquarters. There are several things you can buy to relieve the itching but none seems to work over a few minutes. The bites are usually around your waist, your private areas, behind your knees or actually anywhere on your body. Especially where your clothes are tight like around your waist. 

Mosquitos are bad but are nothing compared to chiggers. The one thing to remember about mosquitos is that only the males buzz but they don't bite. The males buzz to attract females.  The females are the ones that bite to use your blood to nourish  the eggs they lay. The females don't buzz so when you don't hear them buzzing that is when you need to be extra vigilant.   Like when you are trying to go to sleep at night in a tent and it is quiet. 

Chiggers are worse as they are hard to see and suddenly you start itching and it continues for days if not weeks. It is also embarrassing, like when you meet someone for the first time and  the chiggers get active in your crotch. The impression you leave with that person or those in a checkout line in a store is not always the best.