Tuesday, August 18, 2009

my doctor walked into the examining room


My doctor walked into the examining room, I exposed my red, now scabby legs and said,
"I'm eat up with hives."
She said, "you're eat up with chiggers."


http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2100.html
Probably no creature on earth can cause as much torment for its size than the tiny chigger. Tiny six-legged chigger larvae attack campers, picnickers, hikers, bird watchers, berry pickers, fishermen, soldiers, and homeowners in low, damp areas where vegetation is rank such as woodlands, berry patches, orchards, along lakes and streams, and even in drier places where vegetation is low such as lawns, golf courses, and parks. They are most numerous in early summer when grass, weeds and other vegetation are heaviest. Chiggers do not burrow into the skin, but insert their mouthparts in a skin pore or hair follicle. Their bites produce small, reddish welts on the skin accompanied by intense itching as irritating as acute cases of poison ivory or poison sumac. These symptoms often are the only way of learning that an outdoor area is infested since chiggers are so small that most cannot be seen without a magnifying glass. Chiggers feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals as well as humans.

well, I tell ya one thing, those 32 guinea's that I've got growing in the brooder better jump on those chiggers!

http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/guineapage.html
To use a very effective, organic means for bug control, you need to look no further than guinea fowl. These endearingly beautiful and entertaining birds are consummate bug eaters and gobble up bugs and weed seeds with nearly every step they take. Owners with property heavily infested with ticks, which can cause Lyme's disease in humans, typically notice a marked decline after owning guineas. The guineas also munch a variety of nuisance insects, including mosquitoes, crickets, grasshoppers, chiggers, aphids, Japanese Beetles, and even small snakes!

Guineas have historically been known as the farmers ""watchdog"", since their distinctive ""singing"" will alert their owners to any changes in their environment. At the first sign of a wild-life predator, or even an unfamiliar human visitor, you will surely be warned! Guineas are a plus to fruit growers as they will protect cherry trees and strawberry patches from marauding robins and other birds.

For your garden, guinea guano is high in nitrates making it an excellent free fertilizer. For those who enjoy home cooked omelets guinea eggs can be eaten, just like chicken eggs. Guinea fowl are truly beautiful and the unusual feathers come in a variety of colors. The feathers are coveted for decorative accents in crafts, such as dream-catchers and fly fishing lures.

But as with most animals, the sheer joy of watching them play and interact with each other, is heartwarming and very relaxing to the human spirit.

13 comments:

Boozy Tooth said...

Oh no! Larry got chiggers this winter when we were walking the nature trails. I do not envy you (or him), because that is miserable. Hope your doc was able to clear up the problem, but if a few more show up, NuSkin and clear nail polish suffocates them!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Yikes! Is there any kind of anti-chigger spray you can use until the guineas take over chigger control?
I've been chewed on by sand fleas and that about drove me crazy. I hope you get some relief soon and that the doctor was a big help.

~Lisa

ps
you asked about my hubby's CDL training. He's training to become a truck driver for England Trucking. He's already on his first trip from Utah to California and back.
It's gonna take me a while to get used to him being away for so long, though. I don't know if I want to get used to it actually :-(

Anonymous said...

Joanna, I have not had any bites all summer, now I have a few. Those few, and I assume they are chiggers due to their location on my lower legs, itch like crazy. In fact, a few nights ago I would have given my eye teeth to have a bar of my aunt's old fashioned lye soap. Used to wet the soap, dab it on the chigger bite, and walla', no more itch. And the spot dried up quickly to boot.

Good luck!

Nancy K. said...

I think I want some guinea fowl...

Country Girl said...

Oh my, never heard of them before. I'd love to have a couple guineas!

Christy said...

I got chiggers last summer. It was the worst experience of my life! I've never felt an itch like that.

Tammy said...

Too funny..not the chiggers, but your conversation with your doctor. Classic. Chiggers are awful. I got in a mess of them a few weeks back.. I think I counted something like thirty bites. I'm not much on spraying the bug repellant stuff on me, but that made me a believer!
Tammy

Unknown said...

Oh, man, Joanna! I don't think I've been bitten by them since 4-H camp one Florida summer over 50 years ago! Accckkk! I'm sorry - I never imagined it could be those. Nail polish was the Florida cure....

Nancy in Iowa

Kate Evans said...

Do we have them in California? I sure hope not!

Danni said...

Egad....I'm so sorry for you, but at least you know what ails you now. We don't have those beasties in my neck of the country.

DebH said...

Oh Yes!! I know what you are dealing with..first hand!! Those little buggers get under your skin and can stay there and drive a person to the point of scrapping your skin off! One of the nice things about Chemo Treatments though...not only does it rid yourself of unwanted hair in those unwanted places...it also can kill a chigger the minute it bores in. I still get a chuckle out of that, we had all gone out went fishing that day, and by morning everyone was scratching like crazy...all but me!!! I had a few bites ..but they died the minute they got a taste. Don't recommend it necessarily, but it still makes me smile :)

Meadowlark said...

No chiggers here, but got them once when filming an outdoor show in San Antonio.

Yet another reason I live in the high desert. YIKES!

Jennifer said...

Chiggers are terrible and I think they itch much worse than mosquito bites or about anything else.