Jerry, to your question ... "and what the heck is a CHIGGER"? let a scratch-scarred Texan try an answer. I’ve been suffering God’s wrath or chiggers … same thing … for decades here in TX. While scratching chiggers one day faster than a cat shaking peanut butter off its paw, it came to me that Adam and Eve sometime must have sorely tried The Good Lord’s patience, and as a punishment He created the chigger. This little demon gets on you, punches down its tiny straw, drinks his fill, then disappears. You are left with a maddening itch that can only be compared to the feeling of battery acid spilled on poison ivy rash. You can’t see or feel these tiny devils as they crawl past your boot, sock, leg and on under fruit-of-the-looms to the worst possible destination on an hombre. Plan for about a week to either spend time in private and scratch, or go out in public and suffer the “worse than a thousand skeeter bites” itch in an area where rapid hand movement could result in disapproving stares at best, and explanations to police at worst.
The best strategy, short of staying indoors from April until November, is to tuck your pants inside boot tops and then spray Deet on boots and pants. Whatever else you do, never sit down in any grass or on any logs. Those areas are chigger condos, and they will be glad to accommodate you if you offer your belt area close to their hangouts.
If chiggers get on you and do their evil, the only real cure is the passage of time. Digging them out with pocket knife, calamine lotion, bleach baths, … I’ve tried them all and the only thing that works is about a week of scratching. I remember my father-in-law used to say “Ticks don’t bother me for long. They just get on me, swell up real big, and after a few days drop off.” Chiggers are tick’s mean little brother. Lots of great souvenirs you can take back home from TX, but chiggers aren’t one of them.
Best of luck on your trip, and I hope you get to enjoy your time here in the Lone Star state without wearing down fingernails from scratching! John