I've lived in Austin for about 15 years now. One of my jobs around the house is to do mowing and other yard work on our 3.5 acres. So what I'm saying is I've sp

I've lived in Austin for about 15 years now. One of my jobs around the house is to do mowing and other yard work on our 3.5 acres. So what I'm saying is I've spent a lot of time in the yard and grass and cutting brush. Fire ants don't bother me at all. As soon as they start biting and you can take corrective action. The thing that I hate far more are chiggers [1]. They climb to the tops of blades of grass and wait for a host mammal to brush against them, then they hop aboard. They start climbing up your leg, but they are so microscopic you can't feel them at all. They climb as high as they can, but when the hit an obstruction they don't waste time trying and then burrow into your skin, using enzymes to help dissolve their way in. They feed on skin for a few hours then drop off and hope to complete the next stage of their life-cycle, even before you are aware they were there. It is common to do yard work and the next morning have a dozen or more itchy, swollen red bumps at the underwear line. They remain itchy for days, far worse than fire ant bites (at least for me). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae