We might have mites

[clifffaith]

Some sort of noseeum seems to have taken up residence in our bedroom. Cliff got bit for the first time yesterday, but something has been feasting on me on and off for three weeks. I suspect my favorite chair (2.5 years old) or the oriental carpet (last professionally cleaned 9 years ago). Our windows have been open for months due to warm weather, and chair sits in front of windows, so I worry about what has come in from outside. Cats get Advantage the first of every month, and I see no sign of fleas, but JB Orange Cat does like to sit in some tall ornamental grass in the front planter, and I wonder if he has carried something in to my chair. I've used the flying insect spray several times on both the chair and rug (because it is a lighter mist than regular ant & roach spray), but that hasn't solved the problem permanently. Yesterday I vacuumed both sides of the rug, sprayed and swiffered, and I have a new bite after sitting in my chair to read the paper this morning. Just ordered something from Amazon (steri-fab or maybe sani-fab) meant to be sprayed on fabrics for mildew and insects. We have never before had bites from something we can't see, which is why I suspect mites of some sort. BTW, the bites are itchy raised round bumps just like a mosquito bite; usually a single bite, but occasionally chomp chomp chomp in a row of two or three. Anyone else ever dealt with such a thing?

 

[dougp26364]

Oak mites have been bad the last couple of years. Apparently they’re carried on the wind pretty easily. Chiggers can be bothersome in the summer and leave nice big red welts. On the worse end of the spectrum is bed bugs, which don’t have to live in your bed.

 

[Chrispee]

I’d be checking my mattress ASAP if I were you. Good luck!

 

[Free2Roam]

I've never seen noseeum spelled out before only heard it spoken... thanks for the chuckle.

I had a situation recently where either fruit flies, soil gnats or something were flying wild in my house... those little critters drive me nuts! A couple days after I noticed them in my bedroom, I saw little bumps on my arms and legs. I think they started feasting on me!

 

[DeniseM]

Have you checked your mattress for bed bugs?

 

[clifffaith]

Have you checked your mattress for bed bugs?

Chair and mattress look fine -- no yucky stuff or visible critters in the seams or under cushion.

 

[RNCollins]

BTW, the bites are itchy raised round bumps just like a mosquito bite; usually a single bite, but occasionally chomp chomp chomp in a row of two or three. Anyone else ever dealt with such a thing?

Scabies sometimes bite in a row...
Does it look like the below picture?

Do you think it is fleas?

 

[Beachclubmum]

Not sure of the size and style of your chair, but can you wrap it in plastic using a large clear yard bag or one of those rolls of shrink wrap like movers use? I'd try sealing it up and see if anything presents itself after a few days. Perhaps try putting it out in the sun if possible.

 

[clifffaith]

Scabies sometimes bite in a row...
Does it look like the below picture?

Do you think it is fleas?

View attachment 13659

Those photos look like someone has scratched till they bled. I have the regular unbroken skin round welt that I would normally associate with mosquitos. The one I got 30 minutes ago when I sat in my chair for a minute to see if I'd referred the carpet cleaner on Nextdoor is about 3/4" round, gently raised, pink bump.

 

[clifffaith]

Not sure of the size and style of your chair, but can you wrap it in plastic using a large clear yard bag or one of those rolls of shrink wrap like movers use? I'd try sealing it up and see if anything presents itself after a few days. Perhaps try putting it out in the sun if possible.

Cliff will say "I told you so". I had the drag-it-out-and-wrap-it idea yesterday, and then very much unlike Cliff who generally needs to be nagged, he showed up to move the chair just after I mentioned I'd ordered spray from Amazon. I demurred at that time, but based on this morning's brand new bite from five minutes of contact with the chair, we'll drag it out, spray and wrap it, and leave it in the sun. Chair will stay outside until Amazon spray arrives, then we'll open it up and spray with the new stuff. Then after another day we'll take it back inside. Rug gets picked up Wednesday morning, and I'll stall delivery until Friday the next week. Plan would be to bring chair back inside to test it for at least two days before allowing rug to come back. Chair sits at one end of the rug, so not sure where the mites might be living.

 

[VacationForever]

Those photos look like someone has scratched till they bled. I have the regular unbroken skin round welt that I would normally associate with mosquitos. The one I got 30 minutes ago when I sat in my chair for a minute to see if I'd referred the carpet cleaner on Nextdoor is about 3/4" round, gently raised, pink bump.

Do they have a dot in the middle of the pink bump?

 

[clifffaith]

Do they have a dot in the middle if the pink bump?

No, just a uniform raised round pink itchy welt. They itch like crazy when they first appear, then ease up after an hour. Take two-three days to totally disappear. Look and act just like any time I've been bitten by a mosquito.

 

[silentg]

You should call an exterminator. Before it gets out of control. They could be in your walls.

 

[clifffaith]

You should call an exterminator. Before it gets out of control. They could be in your walls.

That's the final step. For now chair, ottoman (which is usually used as a table, not for feet) and various pillows on that side of the room are outside, sprayed and wrapped in black plastic. Tonight and tomorrow if I am still being bit while sitting in the rattan chair we moved in for TV viewing, I'll suspect the rug, and in any case rug is going away for cleaning first thing Wednesday. I dusted the shutters and mopped the window sills and sprayed. Depending on what the exterminator thinks if we are still being bit after everything we've done, we can completely close that room off to fumigate for a day or two while we sleep in the guest house.

 

[clifffaith]

Rug was hauled out for cleaning yesterday, and I was all ready to see if bites stopped appearing. Then last night I saw a winged creature fly by me once, then twenty minutes later turned my head to find a mosquito sitting fat and happy on the pillow next to me. Swatted him and he was full of my blood. So of course this morning I have new bites. We are not prone to mosquitos, getting only a couple in the bedroom over the course of a year. I added the new bites to my "Bite Log". I put rug return off until a week from Labor Day, and my chair will stay outside until then.

If the bites continue over the weekend, we know what the issue is -- bird mites. There was a bird flying the same path off of somewhere up high over our tile roof for a couple months, so I'm sure there was a nest up there. Three weeks ago when I started to get bit once a day, I started wondering if that was the issue, but since we can't see the nest, I'd hoped it was too far away to bring mites into the house. Twenty plus years ago when I was in a client's home measuring for new window coverings she mentioned having enjoyed a nest on her bedroom patio, but then had the mite issue. So I know better than allowing a nest to be near windows. Doing research, the mites become an issue after the babies fledge and the birds leave the nest, leaving hungry mites behind.

So if I am still getting bitten, we'll see how the exterminator wants to handle the situation, then next step is getting a roofer out. We have a few front facing tiles that need to be "re-stuffed" anyway before we move sometime in the future, and obviously somewhere higher up there is a space attractive to birds.

 

[stmartinfan]

I had never heard of bird mites before so was interested enough to read a bit more. I though this article from an entomologist at the Univ. of Wisconsin gave a good summary:
https://www.wiscontext.org/how-deal-tiny-itch-inducing-bird-mite

It sounds like they are only an issue if there's a nest abutting the house somewhere, so guess that's why I've never encountered someone who's had them.

 

[clifffaith]

I had never heard of bird mites before so was interested enough to read a bit more. I though this article from an entomologist at the Univ. of Wisconsin gave a good summary:
https://www.wiscontext.org/how-deal-tiny-itch-inducing-bird-mite

It sounds like they are only an issue if there's a nest abutting the house somewhere, so guess that's why I've never encountered someone who's had them.

Great article, but they seem to hang on longer than the experts think since I believe they've been feasting on me 2-3 weeks. Yesterday Cliff was speaking with a friend we see twice a year and learned they had to spray and wrap a mattress in plastic for a week, and move to another room, to get rid of them after they had a nest in their patio rafters. I'm still waiting to see if I get bit after the home grown remedies we've tried. Darn mosquito last night threw my schedule off!