Are chiggers prevalent in Ohio lawns. How can you identify chigger infestations. What are the most effective methods for eliminating and preventing chiggers. How do chigger bites affect humans and pets.

Understanding Chiggers: Tiny Pests with a Big Impact

Chiggers, also known as berry bugs or harvest mites, are microscopic arachnids that can cause significant discomfort to humans and animals. These tiny creatures, closely related to ticks, are prevalent in Ohio and can quickly become a nuisance for property owners.

Chiggers are nearly invisible to the naked eye, measuring less than 1/150th of an inch in length. Despite their minuscule size, they are recognizable by their distinctive bright reddish-orange color. These mites thrive in moist, bushy areas, making Ohio lawns an ideal habitat for them to flourish.

Chigger Behavior and Lifecycle

Understanding the behavior and lifecycle of chiggers is crucial for effective control. Adult chiggers do not bite humans or animals. It’s the larval stage, often referred to as “baby chiggers,” that causes problems for people and pets. These larvae attach themselves to their hosts using tiny claws and inject saliva containing digestive enzymes into the skin.

• Chiggers can lay one to five eggs per day
• Larvae feed on dissolved skin cells for several days before dropping off
• The lifecycle from egg to adult takes about 50-70 days, depending on environmental conditions

Identifying Chigger Infestations in Your Ohio Lawn

Detecting a chigger infestation can be challenging due to their microscopic size. However, there are several signs that can indicate their presence on your property:

1. Unexplained itchy, red bumps on skin after spending time outdoors
2. Pets scratching excessively, especially around their paws and belly
3. Increased mosquito-like bites in areas with tall grass or dense vegetation
4. Small, reddish spots moving on light-colored surfaces when closely inspected

Why are chiggers attracted to humans and animals? These tiny mites are drawn to carbon dioxide, which is exhaled by living creatures. This explains why they often target areas where clothing fits tightly against the skin, such as waistbands and sock lines.

The Impact of Chigger Bites on Humans and Pets

Chigger bites can cause significant discomfort for both humans and animals. While the bites themselves are painless, the aftermath can be quite unpleasant:

• Intense itching that can last for several days
• Red, raised bumps that resemble pimples or small hives
• Skin rashes, particularly around the waist, ankles, and warm skin folds
• In some cases, secondary infections from excessive scratching

Is it possible for chigger bites to transmit diseases? Unlike ticks, chiggers are not known to transmit diseases to humans. However, the intense itching and potential for secondary infections make them a health concern that should be addressed promptly.

Effective Methods for Eliminating Chiggers from Your Ohio Property

Dealing with a chigger infestation requires a multi-faceted approach. While DIY methods can provide some relief, professional intervention is often the most effective solution for widespread infestations.

Professional Chigger Control Services

Engaging a professional lawn care service is the most efficient way to eliminate chiggers from your property. These experts have the knowledge, experience, and access to high-quality insecticides that can effectively target chigger populations.

When you hire a professional service, they typically follow these steps:

1. Conduct a thorough inspection to confirm the presence of chiggers
2. Identify the areas of highest infestation
3. Apply a specialized insecticide designed to eliminate chiggers
4. Provide follow-up treatments to ensure complete eradication

DIY Chigger Control Methods

While professional services are recommended for severe infestations, there are several steps homeowners can take to reduce chigger populations:

• Regularly mow your lawn and keep grass short
• Trim bushes and remove dense vegetation where chiggers thrive
• Clear leaf litter and other organic debris from your yard
• Apply diatomaceous earth to affected areas
• Use natural repellents like cedar oil or neem oil

How effective are natural remedies against chiggers? While some natural solutions can help repel chiggers, they may not be as effective as professional treatments for eliminating large infestations.

Preventing Future Chigger Infestations in Ohio Lawns

Prevention is key when it comes to chigger control. Implementing a comprehensive prevention strategy can help keep these tiny pests at bay and protect your family and pets from uncomfortable bites.

Ongoing Chigger Control Programs

The most effective way to prevent chigger infestations is to enroll in an ongoing control program. These programs typically include:

• Regular inspections to monitor chigger activity
• Scheduled treatments throughout the chigger season
• Continuous coverage to prevent lapses in protection
• Adjustments to the treatment plan based on environmental factors

How often should chigger treatments be applied? The frequency of treatments depends on various factors, including the severity of the infestation and local climate conditions. Generally, treatments are applied every 4-6 weeks during peak chigger season.

Landscaping Practices for Chigger Prevention

Modifying your landscape can make your property less hospitable to chiggers. Consider implementing these practices:

1. Maintain a well-manicured lawn with regular mowing
2. Remove brush piles and overgrown vegetation
3. Keep your yard free of fallen leaves and other organic debris
4. Create barriers between wooded areas and your lawn
5. Reduce moisture in your yard by improving drainage

Personal Protection Against Chiggers in Ohio

While controlling chiggers in your yard is important, taking personal precautions can provide an additional layer of protection when spending time outdoors.

Clothing and Repellents

• Wear long sleeves and pants tucked into socks when in chigger-prone areas
• Apply insect repellents containing DEET or permethrin to clothing and exposed skin
• Shower and wash clothing immediately after spending time in potentially infested areas
• Avoid sitting directly on the ground in grassy or wooded areas

Can chiggers infest your home? Chiggers typically do not survive indoors and are not known to infest homes. However, they can be brought inside on clothing or pets, which is why it’s important to take precautions after spending time outdoors.

The Importance of Professional Chigger Control in Ohio

While DIY methods can provide some relief, professional chigger control services offer several advantages for Ohio homeowners:

• Access to more effective and longer-lasting treatments
• Expertise in identifying and targeting chigger habitats
• Comprehensive approach that addresses both current infestations and prevention
• Time and cost savings compared to repeated DIY attempts
• Peace of mind knowing that the problem is being handled by experts

When selecting a professional service, look for companies with experience in chigger control and positive reviews from other Ohio homeowners. Ask about their treatment methods, guarantee policies, and whether they offer ongoing prevention programs.

The Role of Integrated Pest Management

Professional pest control companies often employ Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies to control chiggers effectively. IPM involves:

1. Thorough inspection and monitoring of chigger populations
2. Identification of environmental factors contributing to infestations
3. Implementation of cultural and physical control methods
4. Judicious use of chemical treatments when necessary
5. Ongoing evaluation and adjustment of control strategies

How does IPM benefit homeowners? By taking a holistic approach to pest control, IPM can provide more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions for chigger management, reducing the reliance on chemical treatments over time.

Understanding Ohio’s Chigger Season

Chigger activity in Ohio typically peaks during the warmer months, but understanding the seasonal patterns can help homeowners better prepare for and prevent infestations.

Seasonal Chigger Activity in Ohio

• Spring: Chigger eggs begin to hatch as temperatures rise
• Summer: Peak chigger activity, with highest risk of bites
• Fall: Activity begins to decline as temperatures cool
• Winter: Chiggers become dormant or die off in cold weather

Does climate change affect chigger populations in Ohio? As average temperatures rise, chigger seasons may become longer and more intense, potentially increasing the risk of infestations and bites.

Planning Your Chigger Control Strategy

To effectively manage chiggers throughout the year, consider the following timeline:

1. Early Spring: Begin implementing prevention measures and schedule initial treatments
2. Late Spring to Early Fall: Maintain regular treatment schedule and monitor for signs of infestation
3. Late Fall: Perform final treatments and prepare your yard for winter
4. Winter: Plan your chigger control strategy for the following year

By staying proactive and working with professional pest control services, Ohio homeowners can enjoy their outdoor spaces without the constant worry of chigger infestations. Remember, early intervention and consistent prevention are key to keeping these tiny but troublesome pests at bay.

Do You Have Chiggers Crawling in Your Grass? Here’s What To Do

In Ohio, chiggers can be a real problem, especially for property owners who are dealing with a chigger infestation. Also referred to as berry bugs and harvest mites, chiggers are similar to ticks in the sense that they are quite small and can bite people and pets. If you think chiggers are overtaking your property, there are three things you need to know: what exactly is a chigger and how you can identify them, how you can get rid of chiggers on your property, and how you can keep chiggers from coming back.

What are chiggers?

Chiggers are a close relative of ticks and are nearly microscopic. Because they are so small, they can be difficult to spot, but their distinctive bright reddish-orange color sets them apart from other mites. Chiggers bite both people and animals as a source of food. Even though they are tiny, their bites can pack a punch by causing severe itching and/or a skin rash. Chigger bites are itchy, red bumps that can look like pimples, blisters, or small hives and are typically found around the waist or ankles. Chiggers are attracted to people for the same reason that mosquitoes and ticks are attracted to us; because we produce carbon dioxide when we breathe, which attracts bugs like chiggers to want to bite us. Chiggers usually favor conditions such as moist, bushy areas to live and nest, which is why they can often be found in yards.

How do you get rid of chiggers?

The best way to get rid of chiggers from your property is to hire your local lawn care professionals to treat your lawn. They have the knowledge and the highest quality chemical treatments to safely and efficiently eliminate chiggers from your property. When a lawn care company comes out to your property, they will first do an inspection to make sure that you are dealing with a chigger infestation. Next, they will spray your lawn with a high-quality insecticide that is designed to kill them off. Once they are finished, you should be able to use your lawn without having to worry about these pests biting you, your loved ones, or your pets.

Chiggers can lay one to five eggs per day, so if you don’t act fast, they can quickly take over your lawn!

How can you prevent chiggers?

The best way to prevent chiggers in the first place is to enroll in an ongoing chigger control program that continuously offers treatments. Treating for chiggers regularly is the only way to keep them away for good. When enrolling in a chigger control program, you’ll want to make sure that the company you are working with will offer multiple treatments throughout the entirety of the chigger season. You will also want to make sure that each treatment will last until the next one is applied to ensure that there is no lapse in coverage.

There are also a few things that homeowners can do to supplement these treatments. For example, mowing your grass and trimming back shrubs and brush frequently will limit the shady, bushy areas that chiggers thrive in. Also be sure to regularly clear leaf litter from your yard as moist, dark piles of leaves are conducive to chigger activity.

Give us a call to schedule our chigger control service!

Nobody likes unwanted visitors, especially when those visitors bite! If you suspect that chiggers are overrunning your property, turn to the professionals at Free Spray Lawn Care. Our lawn care professionals will quickly and safely end the infestation so you and your loved ones can get back to enjoying your yard. We offer our chigger control service to property owners in Mansfield, Wooster, Strongsville, OH and throughout the surrounding areas. Give us a call at 419-529-5296 to schedule our chigger control service today.

Share this Article

Chigger Bites (for Parents) – Humana

Parents

Search KidsHealth library

What Are Chiggers?

Chiggers (also called harvest mites or red bugs) are tiny red, biting mites. Their bites aren’t painful, but do cause intense itching.

Chiggers are members of the arachnid family (the same family that includes spiders and ticks). They are smaller than a period at the end of a sentence. Most can only be seen with a magnifying glass.

Chiggers are found all over the outdoors, including in grassy fields, along lakes and streams, and in forests. It’s the baby chiggers that bite people and animals.

How Do Chigger Bites Happen?

After hatching, baby chiggers wait on plants for people or animals to pass by. When they do, the chigger attaches to them using tiny claws. Once attached, it pierces their skin and injects its saliva (spit). The spit contains digestive juices that dissolve skin cells. The chigger then eats the dissolved cells, which provide the protein it needs to grow into an adult. After a couple of days the chigger falls off, leaving a red bump on the skin.

What Are the Signs of Chigger Bites?

Chigger bites are itchy red bumps that can look like pimples, blisters, or small hives. They are usually found around the waist, ankles, or in warm skin folds. They get bigger and itchier over several days, and often appear in groups.

Chigger bites start to itch within hours of the chigger attaching to the skin. The itch stops after a few days, and the red bumps heal over 1–2 weeks.

If chigger bites happen on the penis, they can cause swelling, itching, and painful peeing. This is known as “summer penile syndrome.”

How Are Chigger Bites Diagnosed?

Doctors can diagnose chigger bites by looking at them and asking about a person’s recent outdoor activities.

How Are Chigger Bites Treated?

Unlike mosquitoes and ticks, chiggers don’t carry disease. So they are not harmful, only annoying. You can usually treat chigger bites at home:

• Scrub chigger bites well with soap and water to help remove any chiggers that are still attached to the skin.
• Holding a cool washcloth over the bites can be soothing.
• Calamine lotion or anti-itch creams can help with the itching.
• Antihistamines (allergy medicine) taken by mouth can sometimes help with itching, especially if your child has trouble sleeping at night.

Discourage kids from scratching at the bites because this can lead to:

• impetigo, a bacterial infection of the skin, with pus and crusts around the bites
• a larger area of increasing redness, swelling, pain, and warmth, called cellulitis

Keeping fingernails short can help prevent skin damage from scratching. Antibiotics may be needed if a skin infection does happen.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

Call your doctor’s office if:

• Over-the-counter creams or lotions don’t help the itching.
• A bite looks infected (watch for warmth, redness, swelling, tenderness, or pus).
• Your child has symptoms of “summer penile syndrome.”

Can Chigger Bites Be Prevented?

To help prevent chigger bites when enjoying the great outdoors:

• Apply an insect repellent with 10%–30% DEET.
• Clothes also can be treated with a specific insecticide (like permethrin) to help prevent bites.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into shoes, especially during hiking. This also can help protect kids from other biting critters like ticks and mosquitoes.
• Wash kids’ skin with soap and water when they come back inside. Wash all clothes in hot water and tumble dry on high heat before they’re worn again.

Chigger bites aren’t contagious, so kids can’t catch them from someone or give them to somebody else. They can still play sports and do all normal activities unless the itching makes them too uncomfortable.

Reviewed by: Yamini Durani, MD

Date reviewed: June 2023

Humana Healthy Horizons in Ohio

• Humana Healthy Horizons

• Humana Healthy Horizons Extras

• Member Support

• Care management

• Caregiver resources

• Child well-being

• Disease management

• Documents and forms

• Enrollment

• Grievances and appeals

• Health and wellness

• KidsHealth

• Member Handbook

• New Member Resources

• News and alerts

• OhioRISE Plan

• Pregnancy outcomes

• Tobacco cessation

• Why Humana

• Your primary care provider

• For Providers

• Contact us

• Accessibility

Find a doctor

Find a doctor, hospital or pharmacy.

Search

Value-added benefits

Learn about the extra benefits and services available to Humana Healthy Horizons in Ohio members.

Find value-added benefits

Documents and forms

Find the documents and forms you need, including your Member Handbook

Find documents and forms

News at 20:00 last full issue watch online

February 16, 2023
21:38

Denis Davydov

While Europe, within the framework of the tenth package of anti-Russian sanctions, calls to seriously consider providing Ukraine with missile systems, fighter jets and helicopters, the helicopter of the American National Guard falls on a busy highway in Alabama. Everyone who was inside the collapsed Black Hawk died, and the fire was extinguished for more than 5 hours. Where and why the helicopter was flying, the aviation services do not report, but they are afraid in social networks: what if they mistook it for a Chinese one and shot it down?!

Two large-scale chemical emergencies are shrouded not only in smoke from the fire, but also in mystery. But if a warehouse with plastic is just burning in Florida, then Ohio is already on the verge of an environmental disaster, which the White House does not comment on.

The explosion was filmed from different angles, because the explosion is controlled. Dozens of cameras followed a black poisonous cloud covering for many kilometers many towns in Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania. The authorities did not come up with anything better – they decided to set fire to tanks with chemicals that had derailed near the town of Eastern Palestine. Residents were carefully evacuated, but on the second day, as soon as the smoke cleared, the care ended – everyone was offered to return home.

“We smelled chemicals when we were driving towards the city. I have a chemical burn on my face, a rash. Fish died in the streams, there are multi-colored oil stains on the water, a constant smell of burnt plastic. Our dog is lethargic, he constantly vomits. Terrible things are happening here “, says one of the locals.

The train that brought so many troubles to these parts was carrying a whole periodic table: ethylene glycol ether, isobutylene, butyl acrylate, but most importantly – vinyl chloride. A colorless gas that decomposes into hydrogen chloride and phosgene when burned. Phosgene poisoned people in the First World War. Of the 150 tanks in the train, 50 derailed.

Those who decided to set it on fire have their own truth – they were afraid of an uncontrolled explosion. Tanks could break, and pieces of metal, like shrapnel, would mutilate everything around for several kilometers. Now they cheerfully report that there are no casualties and destruction.

“If I were there right now, I would drink water there. Yesterday, when our chief physician advised drinking only bottled water, he simply did not know the results of water tests. Today we have them,” said Mike Devine , Governor of Ohio.

Governor giving advice from the state capital, hundreds of miles away from the crash site. For two weeks, he never appeared at the overturned tanks. The authorities pretended that nothing terrible had happened.

“They are happy when they collect our taxes. The authorities are happy to spend trillions of dollars around the world on their military operations, just leaving ordinary people. People like these unfortunate East Palestine in Ohio,” said American politician Tulsi Gabbard.

Residents heard the first official messages that it is better to drink bottled water only on the 10th day after the accident. “The EPA didn’t seem to be doing any water tests, and the railroad company that made it happen hired some office to do all the tests. It’s the same type of office that BP hired. Remember, 12 years ago they told us that the water in the Gulf of Mexico is in perfect order after BP’s towers with trillions of tons of oil flew into the air?!” says one of the locals.

What just happened in Ohio, how serious the damage is, whether there will be compensation – a queue for answers to these questions lined up at the school gym, where the townspeople gathered. But no one came to see them. The management of the railway company sent a letter – they are afraid for the safety of their employees, so somehow without them. The only representative of power was the local mayor, who is also a local resident. “I’m just the mayor of a town of 4,700 people. If you think I can fight the railroad giants and the federal government, then you’re out of your mind. I need help. I’m not ready for this,” he said.

The railroad company sent one check for $1,200,000 to the entire city.

“That’s not enough! Maybe this is just the beginning. Help is needed now from different places. Many are responsible for what happened. I was told that the bearings of the train overheated. Why did they overheat? Maybe because they were not properly maintained ?! All this needs to be investigated,” said Brad Venstrup, a member of the US House of Representatives from Ohio.

Just a month and a half ago, railroad workers complained about how companies cut staff, those who remain, lengthen shifts, and even lengthen trains, giving a damn about the safety of transportation. There were more accidents under the new Minister of Transport. Biden gave the job to Pete Buttigieg. The pride of the administration is the first openly gay minister. In his speeches, he does not even mention the disaster in Ohio. Other issues matter.

“From generation to generation, we’ve heard too many stories about infrastructure when a neighborhood of color finally gets a project, but everyone who works on this project, doing well-paid jobs, looks like they’re not from the area” said Pete Buttigieg.

Neither Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg nor President Biden came to Ohio and commented on the catastrophe extremely sparingly. Journalists suggested that if the tragedy with the train happened not in the United States, but in Ukraine, the American authorities would have shown greater sensitivity.

incidents
policy
explosion
USA/America
society
news
ecological catastrophy
Most read
events of the day

“For us, it’s Pearl Harbor.” How a city in Ohio lives after a train crash with toxic chemicals

• Bernd Debusmann
• BBC East Palestine, Ohio

February 18, 2023

Pod sign up for our newsletter “Context”: it will help you figure it out in events.

Image caption,

Many residents of East Palestine, Ohio, can now only drink bottled water – tap water gives them strange symptoms

For John and Lisa Hammer, residents of a small town in East Palestine, Ohio , normal life ended on February 3 at 20:55. At that moment, a train loaded with toxic chemicals derailed just a few meters from the building where their thriving garbage company was located.

This report was published in English, the original can be read here .

The Hammers have been developing their business for 18 years, going from five clients to more than seven thousand.

“It completely ruined our lives,” John tells the BBC, barely holding back tears. We talk to him in the parking lot outside his company office, where the smell of chemicals still hangs in the air after the disaster.

“I’ve already decided to get out of here,” he adds. “We’re moving. We can’t do this anymore.”

After a train derailment, rescue services had to release vinyl chloride, a toxic, colorless gas, from five tanks. Otherwise, they could explode.

Image copyright Reuters

John’s eyes are red and swollen – he believes chemicals released into the air after the crash in East Palestine are to blame.

But the couple told the BBC that they suffered even more psychologically.

“I can’t sleep at all. I’ve already been to the doctor twice, now I’m taking a sedative,” says John Hammer. “It’s ten times worse than just losing your livelihood. We built this business from the very beginning.”

Just like her husband, Lisa Hammer stays up all night thinking about what will happen to the company, her ten employees – and the whole city where she has spent 20 years of her life.

• Massive explosion in Bangladesh at a clothing warehouse for the West. More than 40 dead, hundreds injured
• A million babies a year are born dead because of polluted air, scientists say – they are now also planning to leave East Palestine.

  “I’m scared for the people who live here,” she says. “I don’t know anyone who can sleep well now, because literally everything is at stake. Business, health, and the health of friends.”

  We climb a mountain of rubbish that rises near the burnt wreckage of wagons, and Hammer compares the train accident here to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

  Photo credit, Reuters

  Photo caption,

  Crash site

  Skip the Podcast and continue reading.

  Podcast

  What was that?

  We quickly, simply and clearly explain what happened, why it’s important and what’s next.

  episodes

  The End of the Story Podcast

  He’s not the only one who thinks so. In the two days we spent in East Palestine, several locals told the BBC that they saw the train derailment as a critical moment in the city’s history. For the foreseeable future at least, their lives will be defined by what happened before and after this catastrophe.

  Federal and local officials advise residents not to drink tap water, but to buy bottled water. Authorities have said it’s safe to return to the city within days of the crash, but environmental experts aren’t sure the advice can be trusted.

  Substances released into the atmosphere after the crash (vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate) are hazardous to health and in sufficient concentration can cause various complications – from nausea to cancer.

  “For our city, it’s Pearl Harbor, or 9/11. This will always be remembered,” says local café owner Ben Ratner.

  In the case of Ratner, what happened led to a “curious combination” of experiences and sensations. Now he visibly shudders every time he hears the sound of a passing train, although he had not noticed such things before. And he adds that now the trains seem to him louder and more annoying than in the past.

  Image copyright, Getty Images

  Photo caption,

  60-year-old car wash owner Ron Rafferty says he wears a mask at work because he fears for his health

  He says that his friends in East Palestine start to panic about everything and remain constantly on their guard – feelings he compares to post-traumatic stress disorder .

  “It’s time for us to think about the long-term consequences for the psyche and emotional state of people,” says Ratner. “People have become worried when trains pass nearby, when their children go outside, when they let dogs out – and they accidentally get drunk on contaminated water. It’s all very serious.”

  According to him, local children only recently survived the Covid-19 pandemic, and now their lives have been turned upside down due to another trauma. “This could go on for generations,” he says. “It’s not just gas or clouds of chemicals.”

  Johns Hopkins University professor Kiv Nachman told the BBC that the substances released into the atmosphere after the crash could significantly damage people’s health.

  “There is very little information about how people came into contact with these chemicals – through air, drinking water or soil,” says the expert.

  US Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Regan visited eastern Palestine on Thursday to see firsthand how the rescue operation is progressing, meet with local officials – and reassure residents that the government is doing everything possible for them.

  “We see you, hear you and understand why you are worried,” he said.

  The agency claims that no dangerous concentrations of toxic substances have been recorded in the atmosphere, and experts have checked the air in hundreds of residential buildings.

  In addition, both Senators from Ohio, JD Vance and Sherrod Brown, sent messages of support to the city’s residents. Gov. Mike DeWine has asked the federal government for help.

  Representatives of local water networks admitted that the Ohio River was polluted, but they say that the drinking water supply system was not affected.

  The author of the photo, Reuters

  Photo caption,

  Residents of the town discussed problems with representatives of the authorities at meetings many times

  The head of Norfolk Southern, which owned the crashed train, understands that people are tired of what is happening, afraid of the consequences, they “have a lot of unanswered questions.”

  But at the same time, representatives of the railway company on Wednesday refused to meet with the population of Eastern Palestine, citing security concerns.