Chiggers

Fernando Rivadavia (ss69615@ecc-xs09.hongo.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
Fri, 26 Jul 1996 15:40:21 +0900 (JST)

To all,

After reading so many colorful comments on chiggers I felt I just
had to pitch in. I don't remember who wrote what anymore, but like one
fellow said:

>Chiggers are ubiquitous here in the South. I could say more but would
>probably just foster more terrible stereotypes of the South. :)

I also wonder if I should mention about my experiences in Brazil, knowing
how most people think Brazil is all covered with rainforests, full of
deadly tropical diseases, every waterway packed with merciless piranha,
that we Brazilians live in fear of the wild animals in our little tree
houses, and that all around are dreadfull man-eating plants. Well, at
least the people in this group know that there are no man-eating plants,
though we all wish they did exist!! 8*)
Anyways, after that Brazilian kid was attacked by an alligator in
Florida last week (and not vice-versa, the American kid being attacked
by an alligator in Brazil!), I feel a bit more bold to talk abou the
Brazilian version of chiggers. I don't know if they're the same, but
the descriptions sounded very similar.
On one of my trips to an area called the Pantanal in Western
Brazil, a beautiful floodplain and the place where I saw the most wild
animals in all my life, we were warned about a flea-like pest which
in Portuguese we called "bicho do pe" or litterally "animal of the foot".
It's apparently common in a few interior areas of Brazil and it burrows
into your feet.
During the week we spent in tha Pantanal, everyday when we
returned from the hikes, knowing these pests were abundant in the
area, we'd strip down to shorts and begin searching each other for these
fleas. We looked like chimps grooming each other, but it was necessary.
Everyday we'd have a few removed from our bodies. Though after the trip,
back in Sao Paulo, almost everybody ended up with at least one. Some got
quite a few.
Basically, the little critters entered the soles of your feet and
from its hole would ooze pus constantly. I don't really remember it
itching, though it did hurt a little. What we had to do was make the hole
wider and just pluck the things out, which was often not so easy. I used
tweezers and I remember I had to sort of revolve the tip inside the hole a
few times and hope the flea would come out with the pus and blood. If it
didn't work, you'd have to repeat the surgery the next day.
This small surgery wasn't too bad, since it was in the tough and
senseless soles of the feet. Well to my surprise, I found out that they
didn't only dig down into the soles of the feet. I was the only unlucky
member of the group who got one in some place other than the foot, and it
couldn't have been worse: the....um......ugh......testicles!!! 8-P
It took a few days and various painful attempts until I was able to
removed the bastard, twirling the tip of the tweezers inside the little
hole! AAARRGGHH!! Not something I want to have to repeat for sure!

Fernando Rivadavia
Tokyo, Japan