It often happens that people get itchy skin after staying in the garden and want to fight grass mites. The six -legged larvae are considered ectoparasites and infect pets such as dogs and cats, whereby people are also affected. The skin disease caused by this is known as hats scabies or trombidiosis, and the grass mite is also called autumn mite or hay syllable. Although such a type of parasite is difficult to get rid of, some control methods and preventive measures in garden areas could prove effective. If you also have to deal with this problem, you will find some useful information and recommended strategies below.
Can be combated with grass mites and what should be done in an infestation?
This type of grass mite occurs worldwide and has different distribution patterns depending on the location. In Europe, the parasites spread especially in the summer months from July to October, similar to theTicks in garden areas. Unfortunately, their preferred habitats and, above all, lawn areas, meadows and other grasses are significantly more difficult to fight.
In addition, the bites of this parasitic -living being cause the skin problems mentioned above and become a bigger problem for garden owners. When the larvae grow up, however, they are considered completely harmless to warm -blooded animals and people. It would therefore make sense during the development stage if you combat grass mites to protect dogs, cats or horse as well as yourself. Otherwise aexcessive scratchlead to wounds and skin infections. Timely countermeasures are therefore important in order to prevent infestation from the outset.
How can you see the bites of grass mites?
Unfortunately, it is not directly recognizable if you or your pet are bitten by grass mites. This is usually painless and you only notice the affected area later when the immune system reacts to it, whereby this reaction looks a little different for every person. In some, such skin changes are hardly noticeable, while other violent reactions show. In general, there are a certain reddening of the bite points several hours after the bite. They usually only have a diameter of 1-3 mm and are punctiform.
In some cases, however, skin lesions also occur on the skin surface. These can reach a diameter of up to 1 cm and cause strong itching. In very sensitive people, the reddish places even extend to areas where there are no bites. Lops of grasshoppers as such are difficult to distinguish from bites or stings of other insects. Because only if you look at their appearance in connection with the course of their development can they be assigned to the grass mite.
If the skin symptoms precede a long walk on the field or strenuous gardening, grass mites are very likely the cause. The location of the bites is also an indication of grass mites. The bites can be observed primarily on warm and damp parts of the body, such as in the genital area, in the armpits, but also on legs, arms and shoulders. In addition, areas under close clothing, such as at the ends of socks, braces or underwear, should be checked.
How can bites of grass mites be combated or treated?
Although the affected areas are easier to recognize in humans, it does not look that way in pets. For this reason, you should take a closer look and check whether it is this type of parasite if you combat bite of grass mites. Frequent symptoms are licking the paws and of course the repeated scratch on the same part of the body. If your four -legged friend is badly affected, you should also consider veterinary help.
As far as the treatment of itchy skin is concerned, some soothing preparations such as ointments from the pharmacy or high -proof alcohol solutions could help. It is best to dab the affected area with it or carefully massage the creams. The alcohol helps to disinfect the problem zone and can fight the grass mites on it. Since the transfer of illness in such mites has not yet been scientifically proven, in contrast to ticks, they are not considered a carrier. They also parasitize only on one host and cannot jump from a dog to another pet or humans.
What preventive measures against grass mites?
In the first place, it is important to stay away from lawns or high grasses in the garden area. Of course, this can be difficult in summer, but it is an important measure for infected garden areas. For this purpose, however, it can be checked with a small trick whether you have to fight grass mites in your garden. To do this, simply place a white board or paper sheet on the lawn to test the area for infestation. The white color quickly attracts the parasites and you can easily identify them contrasting on the bright background.
In addition, garden areas can be particularly dangerous when infested on hot and sunny days. Therefore, try to enter these places only when it gets cooler outside. A few more steps to prevent bite is to wear protective clothing such as rubber boots and long pants. It can also help to take a shower outdoors after every stay or to change clothes more often. Here are other measures that you could take:
- Try to mow your lawn more often and dispose of the clipboard immediately afterwards, but not on your compost heap.
- It would also be advisable if you combat grass mites to use home remedies. To do this, you can produce your own solutions with lavender oil or mint or use purchased resources. This also applies to pets, although there are also defensive collars.
- Since grass mites also affect other visitors to the garden area such as rodents, you can try to remove nesting places or holes in the lawn.
- Also try to water dry and heat -exposed lawns more often in order to be able to combat accumulating grass mites.
The control strategy with insecticides could prevent infestation, but often proves to be harmful to other beneficials in the garden. It would therefore make more sense to put on natural enemies such as ladybugs or predatory mites that eat grass mites in the affected garden area by planting.
