Quicksand Fans

I'm wondering if anyone has ever happened to anyone else?

I recently checked out a new mud spot (the best ever, by the way, completely bottomless ) Unfortunately I was covered in little red dots for awhile (they've cleared up ) They weren't red spots like a rash, they were smaller than that. The center of it was a darker red. They were a little bit itchy but not to bad, and a few are raised like pimples, but most weren't. I didn't go completely under, and I have nothing on my face, so I definitely think it was something in the mud. I have more of them on my arms, not on my legs, which makes me think they aren't chigger bites, but then again I'm not too familiar with them. It was a dried up lake, so i really don't think it was plant based (poison ivy, etc.).

Bacteria, chiggers, nematodes, parasites, something else, what do you think?

Where are you located? We're you wearing long pants? Highly unlikely it was chiggers.

Yeah, you usually get a higher concentration of chiggers on the legs than the arms. I'm going to vote for ants. In the drying mudbeds, they'll burrow just beneath the surface, sometimes making incredible designs, and they won't hesitate to go after your arms while you're relaxing.

Fitzwill wrote:I'm wondering if anyone has ever happened to anyone else?

I recently checked out a new mud spot (the best ever, by the way, completely bottomless ) Unfortunately I was covered in little red dots for awhile (they've cleared up ) They weren't red spots like a rash, they were smaller than that. The center of it was a darker red. They were a little bit itchy but not to bad, and a few are raised like pimples, but most weren't. I didn't go completely under, and I have nothing on my face, so I definitely think it was something in the mud. I have more of them on my arms, not on my legs, which makes me think they aren't chigger bites, but then again I'm not too familiar with them. It was a dried up lake, so i really don't think it was plant based (poison ivy, etc.).

Bacteria, chiggers, nematodes, parasites, something else, what do you think?

I find that I tend to get a rash where mud is allowed to dry on my skin. Perhaps that is the cause.

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are "chiggers"? Not something I've heard of this side of the pond...

auroraman wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are "chiggers"? Not something I've heard of this side of the pond...

A "chigger" is the larval stage of a very tiny mite. They burrow into the skin and leave behind a small amount of organic material that causes itching. A "chigger bite" resembles a tiny red bump with a central core and will typically last for a couple of weeks. The chiggers are common in the spring here in the south, central USA but would get on a person from foliage, not from water or mud. You would tend to find the bites in places where clothing creates folds, such as around the waist or ankles, depending on what you wear.

If these bumps disappeared in less than 10 days they were almost certainly something else.

And they can itch for weeks. Down here they're just part of life during the summer so as kids you get used to them. When we're shooting the ladies are rarely bothered because they wash off several times a day and the critters never have time to latch on.

Fred588 wrote:

auroraman wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are "chiggers"? Not something I've heard of this side of the pond...

A "chigger" is the larval stage of a very tiny mite. They burrow into the skin and leave behind a small amount of organic material that causes itching. A "chigger bite" resembles a tiny red bump with a central core and will typically last for a couple of weeks. The chiggers are common in the spring here in the south, central USA but would get on a person from foliage, not from water or mud. You would tend to find the bites in places where clothing creates folds, such as around the waist or ankles, depending on what you wear.

If these bumps disappeared in less than 10 days they were almost certainly something else.

Thanks Fred, nothing over here like that, thank goodness. We just have to suffer the Scottish Midge during the summer. I don't think I've ever encountered anything so small that can bite like one. You can't go out uncovered, you just can't. Favourite haunt? Boggy land!

auroraman wrote:

Fred588 wrote:

auroraman wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are "chiggers"? Not something I've heard of this side of the pond...

A "chigger" is the larval stage of a very tiny mite. They burrow into the skin and leave behind a small amount of organic material that causes itching. A "chigger bite" resembles a tiny red bump with a central core and will typically last for a couple of weeks. The chiggers are common in the spring here in the south, central USA but would get on a person from foliage, not from water or mud. You would tend to find the bites in places where clothing creates folds, such as around the waist or ankles, depending on what you wear.

If these bumps disappeared in less than 10 days they were almost certainly something else.

Thanks Fred, nothing over here like that, thank goodness. We just have to suffer the Scottish Midge during the summer. I don't think I've ever encountered anything so small that can bite like one. You can't go out uncovered, you just can't. Favourite haunt? Boggy land!

We have midges here in BC as well, also known as "noseeums", because you often don't see them when they bite you. You are hiking, and all of a sudden, you see a red dot on your skin between your legs, or a drop of blood that you wipe off to see the red dot. You then have to refrain from scratching it, or it turns into a really bad itchy bump which itches worse, making you want to scratch it all the more, and you can scratch the skin off, which then burns and forms a scab. It takes a couple weeks for it to go away completely, scratched or unscratched, and leaves a discolored mark on the skin for weeks afterwards. It is amazing how such a tiny fly can bite so hard, seeming to like going for the inner parts of your legs, although no bare skin is safe! But, fortunately, their season is short, lasting only a few weeks from late spring into early summer.

Swamp Dots! AKA. Swamp Itch is the same as Swimmer's Itch. It is caused by the larva of hook or round worms (I can not remember which).
Sometimes certain peat bogs can have itty bitty splinters like fiberglass bits as the plant make up has 'em (that itchy grass....)
Harmless but annoying. My cure for when I get 'em is a bath with- epsom salts, tea tree oil, and an essential oil from Sunrider called "Sun Breeze".
After that, I feel fresh as a daisy and ready for more swamp-romps...

That's one cause and cure, but it might not apply to your situation.