Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

—PESTS OF THE WOODS 253they are accordingly most aboundingdry, sandy localities;on the mountains. The Pacific slope is worthy of beingcalled flea-dom." Orton, The Andes and the Amazons,pp. 484-487.Northern Chiggers.— The moquim mentionedabove answers the description of our own chigger,jigger, red-bug, as she is variously called, which is anentirely different beast from the real chigger or•chigoe of the tropics. I do not know what may bethe northern limit of these diabolic creatures, buthave made their acquaintance on Swatara Creek inPennsylvania. They are quite at home on theorairies of southern Illinois, exist in myriads on theOzarks, and throughout the lowlands of the South,and are perhaps worst of all in some parts of Texas.The chigger, as I shall call it, is invisible on one'sskin, unless you know just what to look for. Get iton a piece of black cloth, and you can distinguishw^hat looks like a fine grain of red pepper. Put itunder a microscope, and it resembles, as Orton says,a minute crab. It lives in the grass, and on the underside of leaves, dropping off on the first man orbeast that comes its w^ay. Then it prospects for agood place, where the skin is thin and tender, andstraightway proceeds to burrow, not contenting itself,like a tick, w^ith merely thrusting its head in andgetting a good grip, but going in body and soul, toreturn no more. The victim is not aware of whatis in store for him until he goes to bed that night.Then begins a violent itching, which continues for aweek or two. I have had two hundred of thesetormenting things in my skin at one time.If one takes a bath in salt water every night beforeretiring, he can keep fairly rid of these unwelcomeguests. A surer preventive is to rub keroseneon the waists, neck, ankles, and abdominal region.Powdered sulphur dusted into one's drawers andstocking legs will do if one keeps out of the bushes.Naphthaline may be used successfully in the sameuianner.The country ReppJ.e sometimes rub themselves