# Are Chiggers a miserable nuisance everywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346 "2019-05-01T21:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/21 "2019-05-02T00:32:58Z")
In Missouri, at least 50 years ago, they were a serious problem in the summer. Never could see the little buggers, but sure felt them. But 500 miles north, in Wisconsin, they didn’t exist. Perhaps they got stopped by troopers at the state line. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/22 "2019-05-02T00:56:21Z")
None in Western Washington that I’m aware of. We don’t have much of a mosquito problem either. (which is very important, as they drive me nuts) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/23 "2019-05-02T00:56:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > In Missouri, at least 50 years ago, they were a serious problem in the summer. Never could see the little buggers, but sure felt them. At least as far north as St. Louis, they still are. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/24 "2019-05-02T01:15:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Photo. They are tiny. > [What Are Chiggers and How Do You Treat Chigger Bites? – Scout Life magazine](https://boyslife.org/outdoors/wilderness-first-aid-qa/29247/how-do-you-treat-chigger-bites/) Those look like the mites we see around here in the summer. But ours don’t bite. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/25 "2019-05-02T01:27:56Z")
They don’t hop like fleas. They don’t care if it’s a hairy spot, just as long as its got blood. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/26 "2019-05-02T01:44:45Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > In Missouri, at least 50 years ago, they were a serious problem in the summer. Never could see the little buggers, but sure felt them. > > But 500 miles north, in Wisconsin, they didn’t exist. Perhaps they got stopped by troopers at the state line. Chiggers laugh at chemical repellents. Mirrored sunglasses, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/27 "2019-05-02T01:46:02Z")
> [@EDLance](#): > > Yes we have Niguas here in South Carolina, you must ever be moving, or they will go up on your feet. Now at this time of year where I live you cannot stand still for a moment, but your feet will be strewn with them. This is hard for me now, cause my toe is broken, and I wear no shoes. That is not the worst though; the worst is when you camp, or sleep in the woods; then there is no haven, and they will do the worst violence to you, your legs, feet, and everywhere else you would rather they not; and they will make great red stings all on your body, and they will ache and itch, and you will be miserable. I have nothing to add about chiggers at this time; I just wanted to call out how down home and bucolic your voice and syntax are in this post. I found it a pleasure to read, and I hope to encounter more of your posts in the future. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/28 "2019-05-02T01:46:55Z")
They exist in Minnesota, but not in great numbers. I gather our shorter summer has a lot to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/29 "2019-05-02T01:48:35Z")
I drink a lot of whiskey during chiggers season here in Florida, to keep my blood alcohol level up. As you know, chiggers can’t be boozers. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/30 "2019-05-02T02:05:06Z")
Okay, NOW I have something to say about chiggers. In Bailey White’s charming _Quite a Year For Plums_, she sets a scene with a group of close friends who participate in a sort of “writer’s workshop,” where they take turns submitting their current projects and critiquing the submissions. If you’re familiar with Bailey White’s work at all, it will come as no surprise to learn that most of these ladies know what’s what, when it comes to the everyday realities of life in their mostly-rural part of the world. Anyway, one of the women is reading aloud from what she believes to be a steamy scene in a romance novel she’s trying her hand at (_Love Among the Pussywillows_, or some such). When she gets to the moment when Fabio (come on, you _know_ she’s envisioning Fabio for the cover on the paperback) takes Charlotte (or Blanche, or Natalie Wood in _Splendor in the Grass_) in his arms and lowers her gently to the Spanish moss that might have been placed there for just such a moment of passion, the ladies stop the budding authoress in her tracks, and one of them yells out “_Chiggers!_” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/31 "2019-05-02T02:06:06Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I drink a lot of whiskey during chiggers season here in Florida, to keep my blood alcohol level up. > > As you know, chiggers can’t be boozers. > > Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk Go to your room. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/32 "2019-05-02T02:24:38Z")
As a kid in Southern Maryland my friends and I would get infested with chiggers a couple of times each summer. My grandfather would have us strip down and then bathe and scrub us with kerosene in an old-fashion wash tub to get rid of them. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/33 "2019-05-02T03:10:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > None in Western Washington that I’m aware of. We don’t have much of a mosquito problem either. (which is very important, as they drive me nuts) Where do you live?! I’m from Kitsap County, growing up we had plenty of both. I’m now in King County (Auburn) and I can’t speak for chiggers, since I don’t roll around shirtless on grass like I did as a kid. But leave standing water for long, you’ll have more than your share of mosquitoes. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/34 "2019-05-02T03:56:57Z")
I’m in Chicago, and only know of chiggers from some text adventure game on the C64 I played back in the late 80s or early 90s. It seems like they do exist here, but I’ve never heard anyone growing up refer to “chiggers.” And, still, being here in Chicago, I don’t hear anyone refer to “chiggers,” except for my mother-in-law and wife when playfully talking to the kids. Now, they grew up in Buffalo and Chippewa Falls, so north of me here in Chicago, but I really haven’t heard the term here in the Chicagoland area. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/35 "2019-05-02T04:06:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Where do you live?! > > I’m from Kitsap County, growing up we had plenty of both. > > I’m now in King County (Auburn) and I can’t speak for chiggers, since I don’t roll around shirtless on grass like I did as a kid. But leave standing water for long, you’ll have more than your share of mosquitoes. I’ve lived in North Seattle and now in Kitsap. I see maybe one mosquito a year. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/36 "2019-05-02T04:13:10Z")
They are, in fact, a miserable nuisance everywhere that they exist, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/37 "2019-05-02T04:16:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not around here in upstate NY, and I’ve never heard talk of them in New England or along the East coast. Maybe not in the capital region. But go a hundred miles north and there are black flies, which are just as bad as chiggers. What are the four seasons in the Adirondacks? Winter, Slush, Black Flies, and Winter’s Coming. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/38 "2019-05-02T04:31:37Z")
When I was growing up, our extended family would get together for Labor Day weekend at my grandparents’ house in central Texas. My dad and granddad owned a small spread of land (~60 acres) not far from there, and we’d all head out there for the opening day of dove season. The place was crawling with chiggers. If you walked through those fields unprotected in the summer, you could count on getting dozens of chigger bites on your legs and groin area. So Dad kept some powdered sulfur in an old tube sock and we would bang it around on our legs and torso to dust ourselves with the sulfur before heading into the fields. This seemed to help ward off the chiggers, but I’d usually still end up with a few bites. A home remedy we had for that was to paint over a chigger bite with nail polish. This would supposedly kill/suffocate the chigger and cut short the period of itchiness. Yes, I’ve applied nail polish to my balls. 🙂 🙂 And if you’ve already been scratching, it _stings_! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/39 "2019-05-02T05:02:38Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Never heard of them until I started posting on these boards. > > Probably don’t survive -40. The only time I ever encountered the word “chigger” growing up in Saskatchewan was in the text adventure video game “Adventureland”. I had to look it up in the dictionary. EDIT: Same as **pulykamell** , apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/40 "2019-05-02T05:05:29Z")
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