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Discussion on Horseflies/deerflies
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 5:20 pm:
I just moved my horse to a pasture plagued with horseflies. My horses were miserable. I bought a trap called Horsepal, as recommended in Horse Journal, and it works amazingly well. My horses hang out by it now. Within 4 hours of putting it together there were over 20 very angry greenhead flies in it. No messy bait. Just wanted everyone to know that this is a product that works!
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Member:
Gwen
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Posted on Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 7:53 pm:
That is a great tip! Thanks for that. How about mosquitos... Has anyone tried to use those new propane traps? Also, did you get the horsefly trap out of a catalog?
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 9:47 pm:
I ordered Horse Pal directly from the manufacturer: www.bitingflies.com or 1-888-685-2244. It is a bit pricey ($250) but very well constructed. I just love gazing at all those trapped greenheads! Can't help you re mosquitoes. Luckily we don't have them.!
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Member:
Contilli
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Posted on Friday, Jun 4, 2004 - 10:38 am:
I own 6 of the HorsePals. I can't say enough about this invention. It is incredible how many greenheads it catches! There is nothing else that works on the very pesky beasts. I breed and have a couple of youngsters in which I tend to start this fall. I’m certainly NOT looking forward to the pests while I’m on a youngin….
By the way, where are you guys? I’m in Maryland and the greenheads are horrific here.
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Member:
Bethyg2
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Posted on Friday, Jun 4, 2004 - 12:00 pm:
Hi, Florida has quite possibly the world's largest horseflies, most bloodthirsty deerflies, and relentless stable flies. You cannot ride at dusk- I did the other day and it was just a nightmare- I had even sprayed oil based "horse and pony" - the strongest stuff out there. I am using fly predators in and around my barn and I find they do work but now it is about 25 days past the last release and the flies are back with a vengeance. Anyone having better luck with fly predators? Mine are from Spalding in Cal. Also I'd like to get a "Mosquito Magnet" for the night time- I would be surprised if I wasn't positive for exposure to West Nile....19 counties reporting cases in Florida and counting.
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Member:
Nightwin
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Posted on Friday, Jun 4, 2004 - 7:35 pm:
Denise, I'm in southeastern Virginia. I just ordered another HorsePal; I have 160 acres. I talked with the inventer of it re the range of one trap. He said it really varies dependent upon location of trap to buildings. Beth, I also use predator wasps, but for face flies which breed in cow manure. I know that Horsepal doesn't work for face flies, but do predator wasps work for horseflies? If so, I've got to release some near a back pond instead of just in the neighbor's cow pasture. By the way, I get my wasps from Arbico, and they said they sell their wasps to Spalding.
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Member:
Gwen
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Posted on Friday, Jun 4, 2004 - 9:09 pm:
Wow, I don't know what we would do with ourselves if there weren't any mosquitos! I am in Massachusetts, and they are brutal right now. I am putting together a small barn to bring my two horses home and I would love to get some products going so that they can be working when the boys get here! The horse pal sounds like a good investment. Now, does anyone know of an effective way to get rid of mosquitos? With the amount of times a day my horses are bitten, it would really be a miracle if one of them doesn't end up with West Nile. I got a flyer for those predators you all mentioned... Of course, I threw it out. I wonder if there is one for mosquitos.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 5, 2004 - 8:42 am:
The wasp predators, which work by attacking the flies larvae, are not effective against horse and deerflies or mosquitoes, all of whose larvae are aquatic.
DrO
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New Member:
Karen99
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 12:28 pm:
Has anyone figured out how to get rid of the every day flies that drive my horses crazy. I understand the Horsepal does not work with flies other than greenheads and horse flies. I have purchased the fly preditor but I haul the manure away every week so I am just taking the fly preditors with it.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 4:04 pm:
If you come up with a way to get rid of regular flies, please let me know! I have done everything I can think of and still have them. I just keep telling myself they'd be worse if I didn't spend all the time I do cleaning and all the money I do on traps, masks, sprays, etc. Also, we have swallows and other birds that try their best to keep the fly population down.
The best I can figure out, flies are either capable of instant reproduction into full grown flies or they are magically hatched from nothing and multiply furiously.
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Member:
Sunny66
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Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 4:49 pm:
I'll buy the "magically hatched from nothing and multiply furiously" theory
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Member:
Liliana
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 11:22 am:
I wonder if perhaps the excess of pesticides has diminish the fly natural preditor????
Wait a minute having said that, there might be some looney scientist  creating the fly eating monster
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 11:46 am:
If he is, I'll buy one!
What natural preditors do flies have other than birds, lizards, frogs and pitcher plants? If it were wetter here I'd plant pitcher plants around the barn and import some frogs. The birds do their best, and we have a lot of them, but too many of them eat seeds.
What kind of repellents/sprays have proven the best for any of you?
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 12:00 pm:
Sara ... I have tried many sprays over the years, and most are like spraying water. I swear, last year I saw a horse fly move into the spray just to cool off!!
I am now trying "Fly Die" and "Bite Free" on advise from my farrier and they both seem to work great. The "Fly Die" is a little smelly, but what the heck if it works. Amazingly enough, these are also about the cheapest you can buy. Got them both at our local "Big R" store.
Try em out and let me know what you think.
DT
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 1:28 pm:
I've tried just about every type of spray out there from the most expensive to the least expensive. I don't think any one works any better than another so now I just buy the Bronco brand. I'd say it's "adaquate".
It is indeed frustrating to aim the spray at a fly that's sitting on your horse, saturate the fly and instead of the darn thing DrOpping off dead, it sits there for another minute or so and flys right off!
We've had a very buggy year here so far in SW Michigan (I think due to the very heavy/constant rains we received in May). My mare is stomping so hard & frequently that she's really beat up her hooves, even with shoes on.
I'm ready to try OFF (with DEET) just to give her some peace. If I recall correctly from older posts, Dr. O said he uses DEET on his horses...is my memory serving me correctly Dr. O or have I lost my mind (very possible)
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Member:
Terrilyn
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 1:43 pm:
Fran--I hear you on the Bronco. I have come to the same conclusion. Let's see....16.99, or 6.99? That's a no brainer.
Off and other sprays containing DEET are in my arsenal as well. We use them A LOT on trail rides on the horses and ourselves, but use them at home in the pasture too. Kind of expensive, but they work as well (and probably better) than other stuff. I recall seeing the same info as you, that DEET has not been proven harmful to horses. I pick it up every time I'm at WalMart, and always have several cans lying around the barn. (Our property is surrounded by woods and marsh...it's a MUST HAVE.)
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 2:59 pm:
Like you, I've tried every brand I've come across. I'm back to Repell-X right now as I mix it up in batches for a big sprayer. I noticed the feed/tack store now has Bronco in big containers now, so like you, will probably go back to it. Some of the sprays, including some home made concoctions, do nothing but give me an asthma attack while the flies set there preening themselves!
I also use a DEET spray on myself and horses during mosquito season when in the mountains. (not a problem here at home.)
Dennis-I've never heard of either Fly Die or Bite Free. Are they available out of any of the catalogs? Guess I can look online,too. I was using CLAC but I think they must have changed their formula as it doesn't seem as good lately and is quite expensive.
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Member:
Shirl
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 3:46 pm:
Hi All, I think it depends on the horse and the area flies. I've had fairly good luck with Equicare's Flysect Super 7, and Ultra Shield. Both are available through American Livestock Supply. Beware though only the ready to spray Super 7 works the best, not the type you delute. Bite Free can also be purchased from the above Co. Some people swear by TriTEc, which I've also used. It's just an ongoing fight no matter what it seems. The best, Shirl
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Member:
Longhorn
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 10:07 pm:
Okay, I know this is way off the wall and may not help with all the flying vectors, but you CAN built bat houses and keep bats around the property. No kidding. We had to evict some bats out of the crawlspace of the house and found websites that promote using bats as natural bug control. Go to: https://users.ms11.net/~habitat/bat/bathome.htm or
https://www.batconservation.org/content/bathouse/bathouse.htm.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 10:09 pm:
I wonder if there is some truth to what Liliana said about flies developing resistance. It seems like I use a product for awhile and it does some good, like Super7 for instance; and then it seems to loose it effectiveness and by the end of the summer, it does't work at all.
Do flies serve any useful purpose at all??? I mean, why do they exist, anyway?!
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2004 - 10:21 pm:
I love bats! We have a lot of bats flying around. The big problem is they mostly fly after the flies have "gone to bed." The do a good job with moths and other night bugs, though.
We have motion lights facing the driveway and believe it or not, the bats have learned to activate them, then fly back and forth catching the bugs the light attract.
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 8:24 am:
Had to put my 2 cents worth in here now when the discussion turned to bats. Before we remodeled this ol' house, they lived in our attic. They still live above the garage, which is going down this year. Yes, they do help alot with the mosquitos but I don't think they help with any other horse pests. Sarah, if you want some more bats, please come to the U.P of MI, you are welcome to all of them at my house!! I have visions of the little buggers showing up next spring with their little suitcases,and finding their "house" gone. And I won't shed a tear because I am so sick of the smell, and mess they leave all over our cars. Of course, they can still live in one other old building we have. sigh.
I'll let you know after they are all gone if the sqeeters get worse or not.
On a more serious note, I find that using garlic in the stalls gives relief from flies for a while. Last yr I tried some Wendals dried garlic as a supplement and instead of feeding it, I started sprinkling it on the stall floors. It really seemed to help. This year I just put a bunch of garlic cloves in my blender added some water, and use it as a spray. I like the dried better for potency, but the spray is nice (and cheaper) I mist the whole stall with it.
I've been trying to come up with a concoction for use on the horses but I know garlic can burn. So far I just mix apple cider vinegar with whatever flyspray I am using. I like the Super Seven too, and TriTec.
At any rate, given a choice between flies, bats, and garlic, I'll take the garlic and a few bugs, and no bats thank you!!!
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Member:
Aannk
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 10:48 am:
Just had to add to this. I think barriers are the best to keep flies off. Fly masks and leg wraps are what I use.
Also, a warning before you try Deet. My mare had a very bad reaction to it, but my gelding tolerates it just fine. You might want to try a spot test before spraying it over the whole body.
Alicia
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Member:
Judyh
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 11:36 am:
Have had the Horsepal in place for about four days and have been very inpressed and pleased. Hoping that one or two other boarders will take the hint and buy one -- or maybe even management. We are in a wet area (underlying clay) of central Bucks County, Pa.
The funny thing was my "very sensitive" QH mare's reaction to her Horsepal. When she first saw it as she was being taken out to her paddock for the night, she almost pulled the arm out of the person leading her. It took two people to get her in the paddock and get her halter off. Then she galloped to the corner farthest away. One of the people decided to stand next to the "pal", which was about ten feet on the other side of the fence, to see if the mare could figure out that if it wasn't hurting the person, maybe it won't hurt me either. So then the mare made herself as big as possible and bounced forward toward it a couple of times. After two nights she finally ignored it.
Some one else asked about those tiny gnat-like bugs that hover over manure. They don't bite and though they are annoying and unsightly, I thought their main job was to break down the manure and speed decomposition. (Which, of course, makes it harder to pick up the piles.)
Anyway, hooray for the Horsepal.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 11:50 am:
Good to know about the Deet. I've been just spraying a big fog of it around myself & horse before heading into the woods. I haven't used it as a fly spray, but have been tempted. A word about Deet, though. It doesn't always work. When we were camping at Alaska's Wonder Lake (In Denali)the mosquitos were so thick they were literaly driving my screaming bonkers. We used so much Deet that the plastic handle on our coffe cups were melting. Our jeans would stand up by themselves. I was sitting on a web camp chair, lined with newspaper,with long johns and jeans on and still got bit on the butt!
I like barriers also, and do use fly masks. However leg wraps and fly sheets for 12 horses gets a little pricey!
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 11:55 am:
Angie-I wish I'd heard of garlic a few days ago. I had a huge container of it that was getting moldy, so I tossed it. I'll go to COSTCO and buy some more. I wonder about making a garlic amulet for the horses to wear? If it keeps vampires away, maybe it will help with flies.
Send your bats this way. There's lot of room in the barn loft and our neighbors' bat houses.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 5:09 pm:
Besides expense and the fact that constant application is not well studied is that DEET may only be active for 3 or 4 hours after application. There is only one good biting fly protection for horses: bring them in a nice barn during the day.
DrO
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 9:49 pm:
Sara, I believe that garlic is good for alot of things, and if I could figure out how to get the horses to wear it, I'd sure go for it. Hmmm, I wonder, maybe we should patent this idea before some hotshot company comes up with the same idea!!
I always say garlic is good for worms, germs, and alot more.
Be glad to give my little furry friends your address. When they arrive here next spring after wintering in their batcave somewheres, and see their home is gone, I'll show them a big sign that says "moved to Saras".
I actually don't hate bats, just hate them so close.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 - 10:03 pm:
I can email a little bat sized poster and map for you to post! We have so many critters and birds around here, a few more bats won't even be noticed!
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 3, 2004 - 8:28 am:
As much as I like garlic (and fortunately my wife does too) I wish it had all these properties. Alas though much research is going into some of the antibacterial and positive benefits of eating garlic there is no more proof that ingestion privdes the benefits listed above than there is that it keeps the vampires away. Well maybe a little more but not much. If you like doing it however I would be the last to say stop.
DrO
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 3, 2004 - 9:39 am:
Sara,
You made my day; I am still grinning over the bat poster idea. Be warned though, we don't have a few bats, we have 100's. Before we tore down the 2nd floor of our house and rebuilt, we used to try counting all that came out, and they just were like the energizer bunny.....LOL!! And the smell....yuck! NOW, on a hot day, just our garage reeks, but that's bad enough.
If I ever get out in your area, I'd love to look you up, we can discuss horses and bats, aye?
Dr.O,
next time you get sinus, or bronchial trouble, or any type of cold symptoms, take some garlic chopped or minced(be warned, minced is more potent) and put it in a jar. Pour honey over it then start taking the honey. In a day or 2, take the whole works, a spoonful as often as you can stand. Hard on the stomach, but it works. My daughter quit having bronchitis after we started doing this, and we never suffer thru colds any more.
Sorry Doc, but IMO research doesn't tell all the answers. But that's a whole 'nother topic I could go off on, and weren't we discussing flies?
Have a great 4th everyone!!!
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 3, 2004 - 11:07 am:
Angie-if you ever do head out for S. Utah area please do let me know. Would love to meet you. BTW-we are only 2.5 hrs. north of Las Vegas.
Dr. O -I've had sinus and allergy problems my entire life. I'm going to try the garlic honey stuff and I'll let you know if it helps or not.
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Member:
Halln5
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2004 - 12:17 pm:
Thought I'd put my 2cents in. We live in a very wet area and are plagued with horse flies, mosquitoes, deer flies and plain old black biting flies. I have resorted to spraying OFF on my old guy and it does seem to help. This year, I have also tried a new spray called Mosquito Halt. I think it does help and seems to last a day or two. It is pricey though. A friend of mine gave me a recipe for a repellent that consists of Avon's Skin so Soft, Apple Cider Vinegar and a few DrOps of Citronella oil. Not sure of the exact proportions but she says it works for her horse. Doesn't kill, just repels. I may have to look into getting a Horsepal. We only have about an acre pasture so maybe one would do it. My horse stands and lets me swat the horseflies with a flyswatter. Of course, that's not the remedy I recommend unless you have endless hours to spend following your grazing horse around the pasture. 
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Member:
Dyduroc
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2004 - 3:55 pm:
Interesting topic. I've tried just about every bug repellent available in this area and have finally found something that works (at least for the time being). Am using Equicare Flysect concentrate (mixed 1 part Flysect to 4 parts water with 1 oz. tea tree oil). The horse and deer flies still buzz around and annoy my horse, but at least they're not landing and biting.
Call me crazy, but I'm really looking forward to first frost!
Angie, would love to sponsor a few of your bats if they'd be willing to move to NH. Sara, you wouldn't mind if a few of them moved east, would you?
dyd
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2004 - 5:24 pm:
Hello Angie,
If you enjoy discussions on "how we learn things" we already have such a topic started with hundreds of posts at Member's Services members_only » The Lounge: Kick back and relax. » Alternative Medicine and Epistomology.
While I agree that science does not hold all the answers it is so far the only accurate way to check to see if our assumptions about how the world works might be true. The use of scientific research has yielded so many health and medical advancements that would have appeared as "impossible miracles" just 50 years ago and "down right magical" a 100 years ago. These advances occurred after more than 3500 years of folks trying to advance knowledge through simple untested experience, the results were a belief in not just ineffective treatments but downright dangerous practices. But it is not just the research on garlic but the experiences of rangers with state forestery departments and the travel departments from coutries where biting flies are a problem. Perhaps you have a unusual circumstance that makes it useful in your situation but we have also had reports on this site of the ineffectiveness of garlic at repelling flies on horses. Something interesting to watch is the University of Iowa has isolated something from catnip oil that on a weight by weight basis they think might be 10 times more effective than DEET at repelling some biting insects.
DrO
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Member:
Liliana
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2004 - 9:07 pm:
Vicky
Mooove I need a toilte, I am in stiches picturing you around the field, weapon in hand in persue of horse and fly
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2004 - 11:05 pm:
Vickie-I've been accused of spoiling my horses, but I've never followed them around the field with a flyswatter! That would be something to see-especially if you had as many horses as I do.
Maybe there's a whole new profession you could open up. You could start a training school and give clinics on the proper method of swatter control for the different kinds of flies, make money selling special VickieSwatters, etc. Then these newly trained Equine VickieSwat controlers could hire out - one per horse (two in heavily infested areas) and make lots of money. There might be a real future in it!!
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Member:
Roberts
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 6, 2004 - 1:29 pm:
This is a topic of universal interest!! We live in the California foothills where it is pretty dry, but there are ponds and waterers for the cattle grazing the 10,000 acres of rangeland around us, so there are mesquitos. A bit of oil in standing water is supposed to kill larvea, and minnows in ponds will eat the larvea. Also, mesquito abatement districts deliver little donut-thingies that kill larvea, I think by suffocating them, because it's non toxic. We also have deerflies, green flies, houseflies, and knats. We have some bats and frogs. We noticed the largest difference in disagreeable insects when we got a flock of 45 chickens. When I lived in Missouri folks would get chickens just for the chiggers. A "Big Stinky" water bait trap is fantastic for the flies that breed in manure, we bought it at the feed store. The feed store also has yellow jacket traps that use pheronomes, I believe. These are both inexpensive. I've tried all the sprays, but hate to spend so much money and time every morning when they don't seem that effective. This year I invested in relatively inexpensive Weatherbeeta flysheets that have two breast straps and a belly protector, and the matching neck protector. (Dover, StateLine and Valley Vet) These sheets stay on very well in turnout, but get stained when the geldings urinate. Sometimes I'm not sure about them, since it appears that flies get trapped under them, but comparing with and without, I think the horses are more comfortable with. The sheets also keep them cooler. I also bought Crusader fly masks, long, with ears, this year and keep them on 24 hours a day. I will only get one season out of these, but will be worth it compared to the time and money of spray. When I ride or work with the horses, I use a natural spray recommended by my farrier. It is Toms, or Harry's, something like that, about $19 for a bottle (quart?) of green liquid that you mix 1 to 5. It absolutely works, but on the label it doesn't even say it is an insect repellent. I've been using Kid's Deet insect repellent lotion for their faces when I take off their masks.
Anyone has any other ideas--bring them on!
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Member:
Aannk
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 6, 2004 - 2:47 pm:
Angie,
What is the dosage for your cough remedy? How many cloves a day, and how much honey? I like garlic (not too fond of honey, but oh well), and am suffering from a bad cough right now, would like to try your remedy!
Thanks,
Alicia
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Member:
Trouble
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 6, 2004 - 4:02 pm:
A $10.00 box fan from Wal Mart is what I hang in my horse's stall. Of course this doesn't work outside, but it does give respite during the day as my horse has access to his stall 24/7.
The downside is that he spends alot of time in his stall, pooping and peeing...alot.
My opinion on fly sprays...use the cheapest you can get because they all seem to have a very short term effect.
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 6, 2004 - 10:19 pm:
Alicia,
I was gonna avoid reading more on this subject, or respoding cuz I didn't want to keep going on when we were off horses, but I'll respond to your question.
I don't follow any special amount. Just chop up as much as I feel like chopping...maybe 6 cloves, maybe 20!! Put in a small jar, and then put honey over it til it's covered. We usually take a spoonful 3 times a day. Local honey is best in my opinion. You can use sugar too. the sugar and honey draw out the garlic's properties. It's really a whole subject in itself, do an online search and you'll find lots of info I am sure. there are whole books an the subject.
Good luck.
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Member:
Aannk
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 7, 2004 - 11:44 am:
Angie,
Will do a search. I stink to high heaven when I eat garlic, so the minimal amount would be good! Plus, being diabetic, sugar and honey should be kept to a minimum too.
Thanks
Alicia
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 8, 2004 - 10:42 am:
Hey everyone, I may be keeping my bats for awhile, hubby says we may not tear down the old part of the house til next yr now. Darn. Sorry.
Catnip Oil for fly repellant? O boy, I can see it now, spray that around and have all the cats for miles hanging out in our barn trying to be near/on the horses. Then I'd have bats and cats, and all the stink that goes with both of 'em. P.U.
But hey, if it works!! I've heard of a plant that is supposed to repel flies also. Wish I could remember what it was called, I am thinking Tansy? So now we can have pots of plants in each stall, covered with wire of course so they aren't grazed on, and lots of flyswatters and hired help to use them.
Or here's an idea: We can just let nature be. Horses and flies have been together for sometime.
Or, you could all move up here, we already had our 3 days of summer, and came close to haveing frost a few nights ago.
Dyd, I too love our first frost!!
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Member:
Sunny66
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 8, 2004 - 10:57 am:
I have one for you...I don't know firsthand if it works but they claim it does.
Hang CD's in front of each of the stalls ...evidently the flies stay away.
Couldn't hurt to try...I'm sure I'll be trying it sooner than later...I've been lucky so far.
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Member:
Halln5
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 8, 2004 - 12:33 pm:
Lest you think me a total nut, I must clarify that I do NOT necessarily chase my horse around the pasture just to swat horseflies. I'm not quite that crazy--yet. But, when he comes up to the barn and there are 30 of the buggers buzzing around, he does stand and let me swat him. He's not crazy--just his owner.
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Member:
Canter
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 8, 2004 - 2:02 pm:
Aileen,
I just have to ask about hanging the CDs: classical music or RocknRoll....?
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New Member:
Magnum
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Posted on Friday, Jul 9, 2004 - 12:44 pm:
do the fly preditors work on reg. flies? I have a small area (2 acres)that has not been horse inhabited yet. Where my horese are currently residing, the fly pop. is out of control. Can the fly preds help?
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Member:
Dyduroc
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Posted on Friday, Jul 9, 2004 - 9:22 pm:
Darn, Angie! I talked with the owner of the barn and she was thrilled at the prospect of having some of your bats move in! Oh well, I guess the eastward migration will have to wait until next year.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who looks forward to first frost.
Dr. O, the catnip plant derrivative sounds very interesting. I hope you plan to keep us up to date on any late breaking developments from the world of scientific research!
dyd
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2004 - 5:59 am:
Hello Kellie,
It is only regular flies that the predators work on. Biting flies have a different life cycle and are not attacked by the predators commonly sold.
DrO
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 10, 2004 - 1:13 pm:
I know hanging pie plates, CDs, etc.works for birds in the garden, but have not heard of them used for flies. On what principle does it work? Perhaps it's a good use for all the heavy metel music my sons left when they moved out!
And Angie, I'm working on those maps!
I love the fall with warm days and cool nights. I also appreciate a good breeze.
Kellie-I think the preditors help a lot, but we don't have so many horseflies as there are in more moist climates. My problems with the preditors is it's too dry and windy here. They work good here around the barn, but any "planted"out in the open must just blow away.
I didn't buy any this year and am wishing I had just for the barn area. I use lots of traps & they do help some as does fanatical cleaning. I think you just have to use a combination of everything, But...no matter what, there are still flies.
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Member:
Verlaj
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2004 - 4:05 pm:
I'd love to have relief from the deerflies, because they can be really bad here (North Central Florida) in the late evening when it is the best time to ride in the hot, hot summer. I often have to dismount and slap flies on my horse to kill them, otherwise he is completely distracted and agitated because of the biting flies. My daughter's horse is their favorite - I find him with dried blood streaking the inside of his hind legs from the fly bites.
I have been meaning to try a variation on the system that was described in a story on the University of Florida website a couple of years ago. Here's the link -<https://www.napa.ufl.edu/2002news/deerflies.htm> The essence of the story is that a farmer that was beset by deer flies ultimately discovered that they were attracted to slowly moving large objects (tractors, and I suppose horses) and were particularly attracted to a bright shade of blue. He found that he could trap the flies using a plastic flower pot painted bright blue and covered with Tanglefoot, a sticky substance used by gardeners to trap insects. He put one of these on his tractor first, then he later fashioned a baseball cap topped with the sticky blue flowerpot. Stylish no doubt, and also effective in attracting and trapping the deerflies. I have been intending to make one of these sticky blue flower pots and either affix it to the top of my helmet or to my horse's headstall and see whether that solves the fly problem when I ride. I'm now motivated by this discussion to get the materials together and give it a try. If anyone gives it a try before I do, let me know whether it works or not!
In the meantime, I do think Horse and Pony fly spray works better than all the others, which I find totally useless for repelling deerflies.
Jill
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Member:
Ajudson1
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2004 - 5:56 pm:
WOO BOY, Jill, this I have to see!!!! Please do make one up and post a picture! Can't ya just see everyone riding around with a blue flower pot on their heads, maybe a daisy or 2 peeping out??
Maybe we could just get the right shade of blue helmet, put the sticky stuff on it?
I am not doubting what you say, it's just a funny picture to my mind.
Regarding bugs/flys and color: We are plagued with "cluster flies"....in our house...the first time we built a fire in our basement after moving in our old house, the flies came outa the walls so bad, we had to move downstairs for the night and sleep in the living room. Being ignorant in what we were dealing with, we thought new windows would solve the problem....NOT. The point of my story is I found out by researching online that cluster flies are attracted to light colors, love the southern exposure. Guess what color our house is? White of course. ON a hill facing, you guessed it, SOUTH.
So this idea the farmer had may not be as far out as it sounds.
But it still is worth a grin for sure!
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New Member:
Botchi
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Posted on Monday, Jun 19, 2006 - 10:42 pm:
Here is a link to make your own 'develfly' trap. I have 8 HorsePals which work great but I need at least 10 more! This link is suggesting about 40 dollars for the whole thing. My neighbor made one and it works just as well.
This link gives great instructions. I will be building mine this week. We are inundated with these monsters!
https://www.aclink.org/publicworks/mosquito/mainpages/greenhead.asp
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 10:15 am:
On Wednesday my sister-in-law and I went for what should have been a great ride around Navajo Lake at 9700' in the mountains. We had got about 1/4 mi. from the trailer when we were attacked by hoards of the biggest deer flies I've ever seen. There were just swarms of them; they were so thick that it would have been dangerous to try and continue to ride. Even though we had sprayed the horses throughly with Equi Sect (I think it's called) fly spray, the horses got bit pretty badly. We gave up riding in that area and went somewhere else. I ride in the area we were in quite often and have never even seen a deer fly there before.
Is there anything that will keep deer flies off you and the horses while riding?? I've read through the above posts, and aside from the possibility of glueing blue flower pots to our bridles, I didn't see suggestions for deer flies.
Kathy's horse is evidently especially sensitive to the deer flies, and at the same time the flies seem more attracted to her than the other horses. She had a lot of big welts where she had been bitten, poor thing.
The flies around our barn, btw, seem to be under control. We clean pens and stalls 2x/day, and dump the manure into a big waste container which gets hauled off once/week instead of composting and spreading it. We also have put sprayers at each end of the two barn aisles. So far, so good this season.
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Member:
jgordo03
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Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 3:38 pm:
If you don't have two many horses Solitude IGR works very well. It's a feed through that inhibits the growth of fly larva. It can be feed to Stallions, Pregnant mares, and Colts. For $80.00 I can keep my place and two horses fly free for an entire spring, summer and fall. I've used it for three years and everyone comments on the lack of flies at my barn.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 6:28 pm:
Sara those deer flies are wicked, I have never been in a swarm of them, but there are places we ride that seem to have more than their share. The horses really hate the ones that land on their ears, which seems to be those flies favorite place. I bought a quiet ride mask with ears and it made a huge difference the horse and I love it. I have been known to rub my horses legs and bellys with a bunch of swat...it works, but is messy. The rest of them we can swat ourselves. I don't know if off would work for the horse....probably...it keeps them off of us as long as we spray right before we go into deer fly territory.
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Member:
amara
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Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 6:56 pm:
everyone seems to have a favorite fly repellant-and maybe some of them actually work...not sure about that, maybe for a few minutes!...
i think definately fly masks and sheets are the way to go.. and if you can carry a fly swatter while riding (if your horse will tolerate it)...
the larger the group the better off you are-as long as you're in the back of the line... for some reason the flies seem to concentrate most on the first few horses-those in the back are relatively untouched...
going real fast seems to help-at least until you slow down.. then its worse...
good luck.. those little buggers can really take the joy out of ride...
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Member:
kathleen
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Posted on Friday, Jun 29, 2007 - 8:18 pm:
I had an experience with deerflies in Northern Virginia. We were riding and something got in my ear and it really hurt. I slid off of Mona and my daughter got off of her horse to see what was wrong and saw a deerfly crawl out of my ear. She said it was like something out of a Steven King novel. The deerfly had been banging against my eardrum and causing great pain. Mona colicked during the ride and the vet who took care of her looked in my ear and said it was very red inside. So, I guess that I'm just saying they don't just bite you on the outside, they can go anywhere they want to. Maybe we need flymasks for us with earguards too!!
Kathleen
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 12:15 am:
Melissa is right, go in a large group and hang out in the back.....if you can't do that, then make sure that when you go out, the minute you count more than 6 of them.........run back home and ride in the arena.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 5:59 am:
Sara we discuss the merits of fly repellents, including specifically controlling Deerflies and other Horseflies during riding at {Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Controlling Houseflies and Biting Flies}.
DrO
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 30, 2007 - 10:49 am:
Thanks everyone; I'm off to read the discussion suggested by Dr.O. Poor Fancy, Kathy's horse, still has a few welts from bites. For some reason the flies bothered her more than my horse.
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