Horse Flies!

[fishbones]

I'm at the end of my rope with the blood s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g, green eyed mother %$%$%$%$ers. I get home from work and step out of the car to get the mail and they swarm me. I come out in the morning to get in my car and they swarm me. Since I suck so bad a fishing, I'm spending more time around the house and I can't even enjoy being outside. The little basterds are all over the place when we sit out by or go in the pool. We've had very few mosquitos around this summer, but the horse flies are worse than ever.

Does anyone have a way to get rid of these things? The less humane, the better.

[FishermanTim]

Get rid of your horse?

I wish I had a good suggestion, since We don't have them here.
I hate ANY biting insect, be them Mosquito, horsefly, deerfly, gnat, greenhead fly or "noseeums". On top of the nuisance of the biting pain and itch, there's also the possibility of viruses that can be transmitted. I got a nice case of ringworm years ago from a jumbo horsefly. I killed the sucks, but not until after it delivered it's "gift" in my leg.

Bug spray works for some, but I can't speak for the larger biters.
Short of wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants, there may not be much you can do as long as they are in their feeding cycle.

Good luck!

[MarshCappa]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Get rid of your horse?

I wish I had a good suggestion, since We don't have them here.
I hate ANY biting insect, be them Mosquito, horsefly, deerfly, gnat, greenhead fly or "noseeums". On top of the nuisance of the biting pain and itch, there's also the possibility of viruses that can be transmitted. I got a nice case of ringworm years ago from a jumbo horsefly. I killed the sucks, but not until after it delivered it's "gift" in my leg.

Bug spray works for some, but I can't speak for the larger biters.
Short of wearing long sleeve shirts and long pants, there may not be much you can do as long as they are in their feeding cycle.

Good luck!

Do I dare ask what a case of ringworm is like?!

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by MarshCappa

Do I dare ask what a case of ringworm is like?!

I think it's 24 of them.

[FishermanTim]

It's a little like psoriasis or eczema, basically a skin rash that can spread if untreated.

It starts out just like Lyme disease, with a bullseye rash.

My doctor at the time did test for it, but had me take the meds for Lyme's just to be safe.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by fishbones

I'm at the end of my rope with the blood s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g, green eyed mother %$%$%$%$ers.

Does anyone have a way to get rid of these things? The less humane, the better.

let me ask you a question.... is the foliage on (around) your property real thick and over grown where there is little air circulation?

that is a HUGE factor in creating the perfect storm breeding ground for any of the biting insects. I did a bunch of clearing at this one place where horses lived right next door and that made a huge difference.

for skeetos you use "DUNKS" the little doughtnut shaped water treatment for mosquitoes...sold at home depot. so if there is any standing water near by

you just toss one in there and presto
no more bug factory.

i have and use the electric zapper trap that has the bait cup you replenish ....
and i've noticed that the mosquitoes are at their worst when the humidity is real high from a recent rain and the wind is fairly low.

WIND is the enemy of these flying insects as it challenges them and makes it easier for the predators to get them that are unfazed by a five or ten mile an hour wind.

[FishermanTim]

Because you sweat more when it's humid (duh) and you body releases CO2 when you sweat as well as breathe, the mosquitos have a homing beacon right to where the food is.

If I am doing ANY night fishing, be it from shore or the yak, I wear long sleeves and PLENTY of bug spray. Any wind is going to disperse you CO2 trail, but given time, they WILL find you, not in sqaudrons of bombers, but kamakzis (singular attacks instead of groups).

It's like the killer bee attacks: they are more prone to attack when they sense CO2 (as if a predator were attacking the hive). They did a study of a hive, and the researcher, in a bee suit, approached the hive with no effect. He had his CO2 released through a tube away from the hive (like a deep-sea diver in the old movies).
When he brought the end of the tube up close to the hive, the bees attacked THE HOSE!

Mosquitos will fly around you when you apply sufficient bugspray, and if you can subdue/control your breathing, they will have nothing to home in on. Once you breathe regularly they will start flying right in your face.

This is from my own personal experiences, and should be verified on your own to learn what can work for you.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Because you sweat more when it's humid (duh) and you body releases CO2 when you sweat as well as breathe, the mosquitos have a homing beacon right to where the food is.

If I am doing ANY night fishing, be it from shore or the yak, I wear long sleeves and PLENTY of bug spray. Any wind is going to disperse you CO2 trail, but given time, they WILL find you, not in sqaudrons of bombers, but kamakzis (singular attacks instead of groups).

Mosquitos will fly around you when you apply sufficient bugspray, and if you can subdue/control your breathing, they will have nothing to home in on. Once you breathe regularly they will start flying right in your face.

This is from my own personal experiences, and should be verified on your own to learn what can work for you.

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i used to experiment in the jacuzzi at night...
i could get in and not see a skeeter as long as i held
my breath.......soon as you exhaled you could see them
sense the co2... but ....also reverse direction to find the source.

so i took a 3 foot piece of 2" pvc and exhaled thru it over the railing
and watched them hone in away from me....

i take brewers yeast allot for health reasons but the vitamin b1
in it repels them.....they will barely land on me and then leave
doing stop and goes instead of landing... and that's without bug spray..
where as the person standing next to me is being eaten alive because
they don't eat brewers yeast

i put in my cats food and dogs food for the same reason to prevent heart worm,
ticks, fleas, and improve their skin condition also.

simply put................. bugs hate the taste of vitamin B1

i once got this new pup ok ...my first dingo,
and it was riddled with fleas
so i took brewers yeast and another natural flee powder made from flowers
and dusted the dog...good...

a week goes by............
and the girl who sold it to me came by for a visit and was shocked looking at the dog
every so closely not finding a single flea and exclaimed..."what the hell did you do?
totally astonished
and i told her and I showed her....man, was she ever happy.

[Fly Rod]

Build a greenhead box if you have that many.

Are they greenheads or horseflies?

[Sweetwater]

Was docking my boat last Friday...came into the harbor in Truro and the lil bastids ate me up. I still have welts on my ankles a week later. Kill them all!

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

Build a greenhead box if you have that many.

Are they greenheads or horseflies?

The ones I've killed are horse flies. There seem to be some buzzing around that look like greenheads, too. I thought the greenheads stayed closer to the coast, though.

I'm buying a trap today that's supposed to work on them. I'm at the point where I'll try anything to get my yard and pool area back. I saw the greenhead box plans online. Do you know if it would work on horseflies too?