Got Deer Flies?
06-02-2006, 04:57 AM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Nanjemoy, MD
Posts: 998
Got Deer Flies?
Some folks around here call them deer flies or May flies, a nasty bitting insect that trolls around for blood in the heat of the day. (http://ryoko.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/tabanus.html)
I think that Southern MD has some of the worst population densities of deer flies. Deer flies were so bad (I am talking of hundreds buzzing your head), I've had guests come running back to my house after venturing outside. The deer flies made it tough to work the fields without soaking down in repellent, and even then they would be annoying by constantly bouncing off your head, face... About 8 yrs ago, I started to wear a "teepee" hat of my own design that I thought I'd share. Makes it possible to work in the fields or garden in peace, knowing that you're extracting revenge on the little bastards. Basically, a thin, material is painted black, yellow, or blue, covered with clear wrapping tape,and then coated with a very thin layer of Tanglefoot (a "stickum" gum - google for it). It is mounted on a ball cap using velcro. The pictures tell it all - the flies go after the highest moving object - the teepee "tent" above your head. They'll accumulate so heavy thatthe hatwill not hold any more, and you'll be dripping flies. These pics are the typical "harvest" from an afternoon.Not perfect by any means, as you will get an occasional bite, but it works for the wife and myself.
- fsh
I think that Southern MD has some of the worst population densities of deer flies. Deer flies were so bad (I am talking of hundreds buzzing your head), I've had guests come running back to my house after venturing outside. The deer flies made it tough to work the fields without soaking down in repellent, and even then they would be annoying by constantly bouncing off your head, face... About 8 yrs ago, I started to wear a "teepee" hat of my own design that I thought I'd share. Makes it possible to work in the fields or garden in peace, knowing that you're extracting revenge on the little bastards. Basically, a thin, material is painted black, yellow, or blue, covered with clear wrapping tape,and then coated with a very thin layer of Tanglefoot (a "stickum" gum - google for it). It is mounted on a ball cap using velcro. The pictures tell it all - the flies go after the highest moving object - the teepee "tent" above your head. They'll accumulate so heavy thatthe hatwill not hold any more, and you'll be dripping flies. These pics are the typical "harvest" from an afternoon.Not perfect by any means, as you will get an occasional bite, but it works for the wife and myself.
- fsh
06-02-2006, 11:32 AM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 448
RE: Got Deer Flies?
I put bluebird (peterson type) houses every 300 ft around my property and foodplots in open areas. Thebecome occupied with tree swallows and bluebirds each spring. The birds eat alot of bugs, especially when feeding young. I estimate they resulted in a 80% reduction in deer/buck/horse flies in the area.
