Joe sent us this story, and I thought it might add to some Ozark Folklore to post it here:

"The following was received from a MADDEN researcher near Mt. St. Helens, WA after she returned from the Jefferson City, MO researching, on foot, some of her clan buried in the Boone County, MO cemeteries:

'Oh, yes--CHIGGERS. I made sure not to mention my humiliating infestation after returning home to good ole' Washington State (where you can't find a chigger within thousands of miles) and put it all to rest. But a couple of weeks later, Barbara & Richard (my Missourian relatives) sent me a rather large package. Inside was a 3-pound stuffed CHIGGER, complete with fangs! I had just rebuilt some of my blood supply from these red suckers, but at this sight the blood immediately drained out of my face. I made out like I didn't know why my crazy Ozark cousins would send such a thing, but my family eventually gleaned the truth out of me. They named it "Chiggy." Unfortunately, it met a fiery end. . . .
I never can remember the NAME of those red bugs--must be a safety valve in the brain.'"