Redbugs/chiggers/ Razorbacks
After all the multiple times viewing Starship Troopers, and all of the
sequels, I have often wandered: why
didn’t they just kill those giant bugs with insecticide rather than going after
them with people and explosive devices.
Product placement is the norm currently, and a tanker truck full of
Roach Killer would do the trick. But that
would make for a short movie and not sell many tickets.
Recently,
during a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas, the inner spirit was recharged with the
abundance of trees, mountains and flowers by a tour through the Garvin Woodland
Gardens.
Master Gardeners
and staff work alongside advisors from the University of Arkansas to tend, and
develop displays in the gardens from the fish to the rocks to the flowers and
the trees; a trip to these Gardens renews and refreshes.
Refreshes,
that is, until one takes one step too many and wanders down the path less
traveled which lead to the Hixson Family Nature Preserve. Aptly named for the feathered friends found
along its footpath, the 1.9 mile Birdsong Trail offers resting benches for
watching the birds feed at special stations and enjoying some of the best
vistas of Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs.
Setting upon one of these benches to
rest and hydrate, provided an opportunity for the lowly chigger/redbug to
attend a banquet. Redbugs are nasty
little critters. Chiggers are not
insects; they are mites, meaning they are related to spiders and scorpions.
Chiggers do not burrow under your skin, and they do not suck your blood.
The
chigger's bite produces a whelp that is usually accompanied by severe itching. Upon exit of the Preserve, festering swellings
left behind by their bite was our souvenir for the day. The good news about the
feeding cycle of chiggers is that you can save your nail polish for your
fingers and toes. If you really want to paint all of those bites, the polish
probably will not hurt anything, but it does not smother the mites. Other home
remedies, such as bathing in bleach, alcohol and various other substances are
not recommended. To ease the itching, use an antihistamine like Benadryl. Calamine
lotion, Vaseline and baby oil can help, or you can try using a sunscreen with
benzocaine. A hot, soapy shower works
well to wash chiggers from the skin.
Fortunately
the common North American chigger/redbug are not known to be disease vectors
for humans. Apart from the insanely
itchy welts they leave behind, they are not nearly as potentially harmful as
ticks and mosquitoes.
Keeping the home lawn mowed will
reduce the number of chiggers that live in it. The mites prefer shade and move
to areas with tall grass, weeds, low-growing shrubs, etc. They often congregate
when they find a favorable site, which sometimes explains why you get loaded
with bites but your friend who sits 10 feet away in the grass has none.
Many
researchers say that avoiding chigger-infested areas is the best way to prevent
bites. More realistically, when you use insect repellents, re-apply every two
to three hours to maintain effectiveness. Protect your skin by wearing tightly woven
clothes that cover as much of your body as possible with minimal openings,
applying insect repellents and bathing soon after exposure.
The Fordyce
High School Football team in Fordyce, Arkansas is called the Redbugs. That is
the kindest statement that can be made about these biting mites. Their bite leaves behind itching, red and
swollen mounds of ooze. The quest for
relief is never ending, sleep is lost, and cover ups are a must. The internet has over 700,000 sites for the
solution to the itching. As in Starship Troopers,
we wish we could blast those little bugs out of the eco system.
Have you
found yourself itching yet?
