Kick Biting Chiggers Out Of Your Yard This Summer – For Good!

  • Written By: Phil Hawes
  • Time to read: 10 min.

Chiggers can be a major nuisance in the yard, especially during the summer months. These tiny mites can cause itchy red welts on your skin, and they can be tough to get rid of.

In this article, I’ll share some tips on how to get rid of chiggers in your yard. I’ll also provide some helpful tips on how to protect yourself from these pesky critters.

So read on for more information!

Why chiggers are attracted to your yard

Why chiggers are attracted to your yard

If you are working in your backyard around the US this year and have been plagued by itchy little red bites, the chances are that you’ve been targeted by chiggers.

Chigger is a term used to refer to certain mites (Trombiculidae ) in their larvae stage. These critters go through the usual stages like spiders and ticks from the egg, larva, and nymph to the adult mite. This is interesting because it’s only during the larva phase that chiggers actually pose an issue to us as humans.

Chiggers like to occupy a habitat of thick vegetation with shady areas. In the wild, you are most likely to find them in thickets, grassy areas, woodlands, and swampy areas. They accumulate at the base of tall grasses as they wait for a host. Once they sense movement, they will position themselves to crawl, fall, or be dragged onto an unwitting host animal.

Once aboard, they will find an unexposed area of skin and start to feed. This they normally do for hours or days in a single position, often joined by other chiggers in small groups. For us, they don’t often make it very far up your leg, so a tell-tale sign that you’ve got a chigger bite is that it’s itchy around your ankles or calves.

Their active season depends on where you live because they do well in warm and humid conditions. In fact, in Florida, they can live year-round. Like many blood-sucking parasites such as mosquitos or bed bugs, it’s the carbon dioxide we breathe out that attracts them. This can certainly be what makes them gravitate towards your yard over time and leads to a bite.

In yards, you are going to see a lot more activity when they have a more hospitable habitat, and this seems to coincide with when your garden is blooming and full of grass and other hiding places

Chiggers feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals and also on humans occasionally and mainly as an accident. Getting rid of chiggers is not easy because they are minute and hard to spot, but trying to eradicate their preferred hosts is far easier.


Get rid of pests hassle-free!

Call 866-373-01-69

for immediate local assistance.


How to check if you really have chiggers in your yard

How to check if you really have chiggers in your yard

The first step of how to get rid of chiggers in the yard is identifying them.

Remember, chiggers are tiny and can only be seen microscopically. If you have very good eyesight you might just be able to identify them, but for most of us, we’ll need some sort of magnifying device.

A great tip is to try and expose the chiggers by getting them to crawl on a light-colored surface, making them easier to spot.

Go out to the area you think is infested and leave a piece of cardboard standing up for a couple of hours. If you have a magnifying glass, use it to search for the red bodies.

You can also leave a shallow basin or bowl with water and after 30 minutes to an hour, check to see if the chiggers are crawling around the bowl’s rim or have fallen into the water.

Another smart thing to do, especially when working in the yard, is to opt for light-colored clothing. This will help show up the small red mites and help you avoid taking them into your house when you take a break.

The bites of the chigger are something else that will make you identify them because, unlike other insect bites like a mosquito which sucks your blood, the larvae pierce through your skin cell and emit enzymes through their saliva, which can often lead to allergic reactions to the skin. For more information about identifying chigger bites, read my full article on the topic.

From there, you could go ahead to killing chiggers.

Killing chiggers naturally

There are many ways to get rid of chiggers in the yard, nevertheless, most people want the easy way out and go straight to using harsh chemicals, but there are safer ways.

A great natural way to deter chiggers is by using essential oils in a homemade spray. Citrus repels chiggers and other pests which can invade your house or yard. The spray consists of distilled water, essential lemon spray, eucalyptus essential oil, and Thayer’s witch hazel.

If you make enough of this solution, you can build up a barrier around your home and yard which will make chiggers think twice before entering your domain. If you haven’t got one, I’d recommend getting an inexpensive spray tank, which will help you administer this deterrent to larger areas much faster.

Solve your chigger problem and check out the latest prices today on Amazon.com

In addition to using this solution to spray around the house perimeter, you can also keep a personal supply on hand to douse your lower legs and arms when working in the garden or walking in the woods.

Another very useful tool in the pest fighter’s arsenal is diatomaceous earth. I like this stuff because it is 100% natural and very effective against insects and other pests with an exoskeleton. Diatomaceous earth is made from fossilized diatoms’ shells and looks like a whitish powder. Any insect which gets into contact with it will have its hard exoskeleton ripped up, exposing it’s insides to the atmosphere. Pests become dehydrated, leading to their death.

So, to use this effectively you just need to spread diatomaceous earth around your home and areas that the chiggers are likely to hide in, including crevices and cracks. As the pests move about, they will be ripped up by the microscopic but razor-sharp diatomaceous earth.

Chiggers also make their way indoors by attaching themselves to people. They may find themselves on carpets, beds, and other furniture.

When you start to itch in all the wrong places, you need to take drastic action. The best defense mechanism is cleaning your house and carpets with hot water. Remove all the beddings, use hot water to wash it, and leave it in the sun to dry. For more information about dealing with chiggers, read my article.

Best ways to deter or kill chiggers

Sometimes when your homemade sprays and treatments are not getting you the results you want, you might need to turn to some commercial products.


Get Your DEET repellent on Amazon.com today


You can use DEET repellants to prevent chiggers from attaching to your clothes. If they don’t get onto your clothes they won’t get onto your skin. Of course, this means they won’t bite you.

A big bonus of DEET-based repellants is that they work on a wide range of other insects and bugs. Although DEET won’t kill pests outright, they do confuse and irritate them. For insects like mosquitos, this is done by interfering with their neurons and receptors. which ward them away. A similar effect happens to chiggers.

When it comes to using pesticides against chiggers, studies seem to show that sprays work much better than granular versions. One ingredient that is effective in both liquid and granular forms is Bifenthrin.

This is a pesticide compound that targets the chigger’s central nervous system and can be extremely effective. You can use sprays with bifenthrin to treat your lower body after working in your yard (or taking a hike). You can also use these types of sprays for a barrier defense around the exterior of your home.


Explore Permethrin insecticides on Amazon.com today


Permethrin is another active agent in an insecticide that is very effective at killing chiggers. You can apply it after you might have come into contact with these pests (make sure you read the instructions) or as part of a routine insecticide regime.

alternatively, you can call in a professional to make sure that you are putting an end to your chigger infestation (and the likely other pests) more effectively. Commercial insecticides, thought largely safe to use, are still powerful chemicals that you need to be cautious about mishandling.

Preventing chigger infestation in your yard

Preventing chigger infestation in your yard

Destroying their preferred habitat is the best way to eradicate chiggers. As I’ve mentioned, these critters thrive in brushland with long grass and lots of foliage as well as a nice moist environment. By keeping up with your yard maintenance you can deter a lot of different types of pests.

Keep your yard well maintained

By mowing your lawn on a regular basis during the spring and summer, you can help keep down the chigger population. Changing the landscape of your yard to include larger areas of gravel or stone features can also deter this particular pest. In addition, swapping out traditional mulch for cedar wood chips can also have a detrimental effect on the local insect pest problem.

De-host your backyard

You aren’t really the ideal meal for a chigger, but they will take what they can find. Ideally, they want to feed on large game, like deer, but will also settle for smaller wild animals. If you can keep the most common host animals they target away from your yard, you have won half the battle.

The typical host animals for chiggers are squirrels, mice, rats, and other mammals. They also hitch a ride on snakes (which are probably hunting your local rodent population) and sometimes birds. Of course, if you have pets wandering around, they will also bite your dog or cat.

With any pest problem, cutting off their food supply is highly effective. Building pest-proof fences, removing water sources such as ponds, and regularly removing and sealing trash cans may help prevent host animals, themselves pests, from infesting your yards.

Catch chiggers on the way in

In addition to harsher chemical pesticides, the more natural Diatomaceous Earth option is very effective at killing chiggers. You can use this ancient bioweapon safely all-around your property. Just apply diatomaceous earth to hotspots, such as wood chips, cracks, and crevices, around the perimeter of your yard. When chiggers (and other bugs) crawl through it they will seal their fate and die off within a few days to a couple of weeks.

Kill chiggers on your clothes

When they find you, it can sometimes take the slow-moving chigger time to find exposed skin. This means you can catch them on your clothing or soft furnishing.

The best way to remove a chigger from your person is to have a nice shower after working in the yard. If you’ve been bitten, then chuck all your outdoor clothing in the wash and put it on a hot water cycle.

It would be best to also wash your bedding if you’ve slept between working in the backyard and noticing the bites. Although a chigger won’t live for a long time in your home without a feed, it might still make it onto a host.

I also like to give my home a good disinfecting if ever I encounter chiggers and their tell-tale bites. it’s just a good habit to get into.

Do chiggers live in wood chips?

Wood chips and log piles are a haven for many outdoor pests, including chiggers. They typically nest anywhere with thick groundcover, shade, or moisture which includes wood chips and mulch-covered areas. However, cedar chips repel most bugs, including chiggers, as it contains thujone (terpene).

Wood mulch and wood chips also attract various pests, including carpenter ants, earwigs, roaches, and termites. Ants and termites are very unwelcome guests in your backyard and can end up damaging your home. It’s best to control their populations before they cause huge problems on your property.

If possible, consult with a landscaper and pest control expert to see how you can improve the environment of your backyard to deter more pests. If you have regular wood chips or mulch, consider swapping them out for cedar chips.

The most effective ways to prevent chigger bites

The most effective ways to prevent chigger bites

As is often said, prevention is better than a cure and this is certainly true for chiggers.

If you live in a hot spot for chiggers (check out my article), then you should be aware of exactly how chiggers make it onto our skin to bite us. There are actually some simple steps to take to ward them off effectively.

Here are some quick tips:

  • Avoid grassy and wooded areas
  • Use DEET-based repellents
  • Wear light clothing – to spot them more easily
  • Shower after yard work or hikes
  • Wear long pants tucked into long socks
  • Brush and wash pets regularly to check for chiggers and their bites
  • Use pesticides to protect your yard

One of the easiest ways to prevent a chigger bite is to avoid the areas they like to hang out in most. These include grassy and wooded areas, as well as any place with high weeds or a lot of leaf litter. If you’re hiking or camping in such an area, stick to the middle of the trail to avoid contact with vegetation.

Another way to reduce your risk is to use a DEET-based repellent on all exposed skin, including your clothing. This will help keep chiggers from getting on you in the first place.

If you have been working in your yard or have taken a nice long hike in the forest, have a quick and hot soothing shower as soon as you get home – this will wash chiggers off your skin before they have time to latch on. Also, wash your clothing on a high-temperature wash.

Wearing light-colored clothing can also be helpful since chiggers are easier to spot against a light background. And tucking your pants into your socks creates a barrier that chiggers have a hard time getting through.

If you live in an area with a lot of chiggers, it’s also important to brush and wash your pets regularly to check for bites. Chiggers can hitch a ride on animals and then find a juicy area of exposed skin and feast on them.

Finally, using pesticides to protect your yard can help keep chiggers (and other pests) at bay. Talk to your local nursery or hardware store about the best products for your area.

Do chiggers burrow?

Chiggers do not burrow, contrary to popular belief that they do. Instead, they bite you and leave when they have gorged themselves on your blood. Some people do get terrible reactions to chigger bites. What causes the allergic reaction is the enzymes released from their saliva.

source

source

source

source

Chiggers in The USA - guide

Previous Post

The Top Hotspots For Chiggers In The USA (With Maps)

Next Post

How to Identify Chiggers (House, Yard & Bites)

How to Identify Chiggers (House, Yard & Bites)