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So when a chigger bites, what happens? I mean they aren't like ticks that latch on and become bloated. Eewww! My husband pulled a bloated tick off our black lab, it was beyond discusting. Just curious.
Some of those ticks can cause a lot of problems. They can cause Lyme disease and there are some that cause a range of fast acting paralysis that resembles Guillain-Barré Syndrome . Anyone that comes here and stays in some of the more rural areas in particular need to watch pets and children in particular for these ticks. They had a little girl in Georgia but my understanding that they are in North Carolina too that had this problem. As soon as they removed the tick out of her hair and with a little medication she was a good as new. But up until the point that they located the tick on her, she was in really bad shape.
So when a chigger bites, what happens? I mean they aren't like ticks that latch on and become bloated. Eewww! My husband pulled a bloated tick off our black lab, it was beyond discusting. Just curious.
Leaves a red welt that itches like crazy if untreated. Very small, about the size of a mite. Chiggers or Red Bugs are not ticks and the NC ones do not carry disease, but a bite area may become infected from prolonged scratching.
chiggers are also called "red bugs" in these parts!
And yes, they are teeny tiny red bugs. I echo the other comments that they bite & it's a small, but very, very red welt, that itches like crazy...takes a little while to feel them...day or so.
...they say it's a myth that the bug is burrowed in, under your skin & you must cover the bite well, with clear nail polish, to smother him! (supposedly they have actually dropped off you by the time you itch) But, that's what I've always done & it works well for me. Maybe it's just a fluke.
You're not likely to encounter red bugs, unless you go walking in very tall grass/weeds or sometimes pine straw.. There is a particular tall feathery fern-like weed they like, but I couldn't tell you the name (I just know what it looks like!). They are visible when crawling on the plant, but I've never once seen one on myself, although i've been bitten many, many times.
chiggers are also called "red bugs" in these parts!
You're not likely to encounter red bugs, unless you go walking in very tall grass/weeds or sometimes pine straw.. There is a particular tall feathery fern-like weed they like, but I couldn't tell you the name (I just know what it looks like!). They are visible when crawling on the plant, but I've never once seen one on myself, although i've been bitten many, many times.
The plant your thinking of is Queen Anne's Lace or wild carrot (they have an edible root like a carrot but tougher). For some reason where those plants are chiggers are.
Never in a million years would I have ever thought of a place having a ladybug invasion, it sounds crazy. I just googled Chigger and found out way too much information. I am itching now as I type this message. I hope I don't become paranoid or obsessive complussive (OCD) about bugs if I move to NC. I have always thought of ladybugs as cute and at one time I wanted to decorate my baby's nursery in a bug theme. Thank God we went with the jungle theme instead!!!
Here is a quick copy&paste of a piece of the long article about chiggers that I found so very interesting:
"Myths about chiggers are widespread. Many believe chiggers are some type of bug. Folklore tells us they burrow under our skin and die, that they drink our blood and that they can best be killed by suffocation with nail polish or bathing with bleach, alcohol, turpentine or salt water. Surprisingly, all these popular facts are just plain wrong.
Chiggers are not bugs or any other type of insect. Chiggers are the juvenile (or larval) form of a specific family of mites, the Trombiculidae. Mites are arachnids, like spider and scorpions, and are closely related to ticks."
Now don't you all feel so much better knowing it isn't a bug but a baby mite???
I haven't experienced Ladybug swarming in NC yet, but I have on occassion seen it in Washington, DC, so it must not be that unusual.
They usually like sunny southern slopes. There natural hibernation places are sunny rockcliffs. The color of your house has a lot to do with it Gray seems to be the worst color. They make Lady bug houses its a small box with slits in it. that might help keep them outside. They can be annoying and bite they also have a foul odor if rubbed,
Ten years ago there werent many ladybugs. I think the Govt. stocked them by plane through the mountains yrs, ago to eat the snowy aphid . I would like to find out for sure because they came from somewhere.
They only swarm for couple weeks and only a few come in through cracks around windows etc. so they arent a big problem.
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