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i would have to say that our experience was different last year than almost everyone in here. granted, we were in BFE where they seemed to have felt like they didn't need to mow the lawn. BUT there were ants everywhere and chiggars. the grass was at least mid calf high and also very sharp and pokey. it kind of sucked (and poked holes in our tent).
It has varied completely from year to year. There was one year when there were spiders everywhere! I am arachnophobia and bug-phobic to the extreme, so tell her I feel her pain. This is going to sound crazy, but I read that bugs and spiders stayed away from scented drier sheets, so for the past few years, I have put drier sheets everywhere. I tie them in knots all around the tent poles and put them in the tent at the edges. The past two years I literally haven't seen any creepy bugs or spiders (like in 2004) other than the common ant, fly, etc. I don't know if it's the drier sheets or happenstance, but I'm putting them around this year too!!!
2012 Wishlist: Radiohead Phish Daft Punk Ghostland Observatory Broken Social Scene Roger Waters Bell X1 Bonobo Chemical Brothers Fiona Apple Built to Spill Modest Mouse
i would have to say that our experience was different last year than almost everyone in here. granted, we were in BFE where they seemed to have felt like they didn't need to mow the lawn. BUT there were ants everywhere and chiggars. the grass was at least mid calf high and also very sharp and pokey. it kind of sucked (and poked holes in our tent).
I would pick up a tent that can not be perforated by grass.
^^ Were you rolling around in the grass? I've been going to festivals since I was 14 and the worst I have ever gotten were mosquitoe bites and sunburn.
i would have to say that our experience was different last year than almost everyone in here. granted, we were in BFE where they seemed to have felt like they didn't need to mow the lawn. BUT there were ants everywhere and chiggars. the grass was at least mid calf high and also very sharp and pokey. it kind of sucked (and poked holes in our tent).
I would pick up a tent that can not be perforated by grass.
well, i'm no camping expert, but i paid about 120 bucks for my tent. i'm telling you this was killer grass. one of our neighbors got poked in his foot and it was bleeding like crazy. all i know, is i'd rather be safe than sorry and we used up almost all of the bug spray we had. this year, we are just going to make sure and put a tarp under the tent.
Post by nitetimeritetime on Apr 5, 2009 12:07:13 GMT -5
Chiggers are tiny little red bugs that burrow into your skin -- sort of like ticks do, but they are tiny little pin-prick sized bugs. They itch like crazy.
Chiggers are tiny little red bugs that burrow into your skin -- sort of like ticks do, but they are tiny little pin-prick sized bugs. They itch like crazy.
Chiggers aren't NEAR as creepy as ticks, though. When/if they get under your skin, they look like little red dots. Sure beats a creepy ass, 6 legged tick sucking your blood (and leaving its head there even after you pull it off). AHHH!!!!! TICKS FREAK ME OUT! Never had issues with them at roo, but I also keep a bottle of "Tick Off" near by. Chiggers are hard to kill though. I think putting clear nail polish on them smothers then.
2012 Wishlist: Radiohead Phish Daft Punk Ghostland Observatory Broken Social Scene Roger Waters Bell X1 Bonobo Chemical Brothers Fiona Apple Built to Spill Modest Mouse
Post by nitetimeritetime on Apr 5, 2009 17:09:43 GMT -5
Oh yeah, ticks are nasty. Besides being arachnids like spiders, they also can carry several diseases because they often have multiple hosts in their lifetimes.
The good news about chiggers is that they only bite when they are larval, then they drop off their host, grow up, and eat grass for the rest of their lives. Since they only ever have one host, they don't carry diseases. They just itch.
And that's pretty much everything I know about bugs.
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Actually the idea that chiggers burrow into your skin is a well established myth based on the fact that you can feel a hard knot in the red spot. Chiggers actually bite and secrete a liquid that crystalizes the pore and allows them to suck out the interior of cells. This "straw" is the hard knot and the itch is an immune respone/allergic reaction. Nail polish stops the itch as it would on any itch by the same process as calamine lotion.
I googled chiggers one time because I heard so many things about them and the "reliable" website all say this or something close. I may have it a little off..
Ticks and chiggers bite and drink. I guess it depends on your definition of burrowing.
The chiggers myth is that they burrow under the skin and reside their for a few days eating your flesh. I've also heard the myth that they lay eggs under the skin which hatch and do the same.
Last Edit: Apr 5, 2009 20:05:12 GMT -5 by troo - Back to Top
Yep, that's what 90% or more of people here believe. That's why you put nail polish on the bite. It supposedly suffocates them but not allowing them to breathe through the skin.
Well, enough of the "how" chiggers do what they do. Suffice to say the are a real b!tch that should be avoided at all costs.
Last Edit: Apr 5, 2009 20:14:40 GMT -5 by troo - Back to Top
Post by nitetimeritetime on Apr 5, 2009 20:16:07 GMT -5
Oh, see I thought the nail polish thing was like putting vaseline on a tick, which also doesn't work. Yay! I learned new bug lore! Thanks, troo.
Speaking of bug myths -- don't worry about the heads of ticks coming off. They almost never do, and if they do, they are so close to the surface that it won't do anything to you unless you have serious immune system issues.
I hate me some spiders. But I've gotten much braver now that I have to kill them (newly divorced; the official bug-killer moved out months ago). The thought of rolling over on a funnel spider and mashing it to my forehead will haunt me in my dreams.
Chiggers are hard to kill though. I think putting clear nail polish on them smothers then. 
