"Gettysburg Part of America's Soul"

[MaddieM]

(04-24-2013 06:53 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Maddie -

Do ya'll have chiggers in the UK?! Now, they are horrid as well! Only they go in GROUPS! Little red tick like creatures....and OMG do they ITCH!!

Back when I was about 16, my sister and I were helping my dad and another man cut hay - when we got home, we found we were covered in chiggers! And yes, they itch and itch - they pepper your legs and arms like you have the measles - little red itching spots! They burrow under your skin.

We had to get into a tub filled with hot water and put rubbing alcohol all over us - only thing that got rid of them.....

All that beautiful swaying Spanish Moss in Florida is also covered with them - or so Lew Powell's great niece told me! She told me not to touch it as it was covered in chiggers....

BTW - CONGRATULATIONS!! I see that you've reached "Forum Master" status!! HA!

Chiggers? CHIGGERS! What new hell is this? I can't possible come to the States now. We don't have such horrors in the UK. I don't do camping and outdoor stuff. I'm strictly a five star en suite kinda gal! I think I'd have to do the battle field on horseback. Or do horses get chiggers too?

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(04-24-2013 06:20 PM)L Verge Wrote:  The tips about head coverings is a good one. Ticks can literally fall from the sky (or leaves and branches) and head for the scalp where I've been told that blood vessels are closer to the skin. Yum, breakfast, lunch, and dinner before their bite begins to itch and alert you to something foreign nesting in your hair. Part of the pleasures of country living.

Oh, my giddy Aunt! Is this prevalent all over the States? Don't you have anywhere you can just go for a nice picnic or stroll and not get infested?

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Oo eck! I've just Googled Chiggers and we have them in the UK... they're called Harvest Mites. Though I have to say, I've never picked one up.