Missouri - The land of ticks, chiggers, and fleas…..short for door stoop to hell.

The land of ticks, chiggers, and fleas..short for door stoop to hell.

I live in Missouri. The nature is beautiful. The lakes are bountiful. Taxes are low, very low. The schools were great for my children. But Missouri has a deep dark little secret. Nooooo it is the other secret beyond a people that are massively naĂŻve, and think Iraq was responsible for the terrorist attack of 9/11.



It is the land of bug hell. It is infested with ticks, chiggers, and fleas. And the next Missourian to tell me the reason there are so many of these bugs here is because we have not had a solid winter freeze will get their toe stomped on. The last THREE years we have had solid and long winter freezes.



But I have another theory. It is because when all bad bugs die, the come back as either ticks, chiggers, or fleas, and then they get to come back in Missouri. I believe there is a portal to bug hell somewhere in the Ozarks. And I have a good mind to start looking for it with my dowsing rod as soon as I have some time.



About 12 years ago I went on a beautiful nature walk. When I got back home I had to quickly wash up (no time for a shower) and get to work. Later that evening my lower part of my body, I mean all of it, began to itch. I was infested by chiggers. The next night I counted the bites on my left knee cap alone. There were 108 chigger bites on my left knee cap!!!!! And those bites ran from my toes all the way to my chest. I never have been so miserable in all of my life. Since then any bug bite on me welts up and itches for days.



Another time looking for a fishing hole along a lazy river, I noticed a tick crawling on me. And then another, and another, so I counted. I pulled 56 ticks off of my body, I must have got in a nest.



I had a neighbor that had a dog die from being tick infested. When I helped him put the dog in a plastic bag, ticks from the dog crawled up my arm, it was easily more than 100. I was never more horrified in all of my life.



So I have came to the conclusion that Missouri is the door stop to hell for the ticks, chiggers, and fleas abound here, and thrive. Come to Missouri at your own risk!!!

Chiggers are a nasty little mite that likes to live in tall grass and weeds. It is barely visible without a magnifying glass.

When it attaches to a host (that would be you) it secrets a digestive enzyme that will itch for days. And the itching is surely a path to madness, thank you Missouri!

Best methods to deter chiggers:
1. Where tight heavy knit clothing. Shoes and socks. Try to tuck your pant legs into your shoes and or socks.
2. Use insect repellent.
3. Avoid tall grasses, people that stop on the highway are in for an event if they get into the grass.
4. Always bath or shower immediately after being in tall grass.
5. If you can not bath or shower immediately hand wash with rubbing alcohol. It kills them on contact.

Treatments for chiggar bites:

1. Some people use nail polish on the bites.
2. Oatmeal baths can deter some of the itching.
3. Calamine lotion can offer some relief.
4. In case of a major infestation see a doctor, you may need a steroid shot.
5. I use rubbing alcohol to clean the wound and then triple antibiotic ointment myself.