Summer Fly Control

[Larry Garner]

I posted this for information...but full disclosure is that I do some consulting work for Spalding Labs.
Several members of this board have used Fly Predators for years and we put them on the Ames Plantation as well as sponsor the slide show at the National Championship and the Shooting Dog Invitational

SUMMER FLY CONTROL

Summer is now here and that means fly problems for dogs and people.

There are two kinds of flies that are dog specific. Botherers and biters. Pest flies (Musca domestica) AKA house flies or filth flies are the type that just bother dogs and people around the kennel.

The biting Stable Fly (stomoxys calcitrans) are blood feeders and bite both humans, around the ankles, and dogs on the lower legs and on the ears and back.

These two very different flies lay eggs and reproduce in different places.

Pest flies breed in manure, and the stable fly in rotting organic material such as grass clippings, hay, leaves, and mulch.

The methods to catch or repel these two types of flies are VERY different.

Pest flies can be attracted to fly baits, stinky traps, and sticky tapes. The stable fly can ONLY be caught by a sight type trap. As blood feeders they are not attracted to "stink" traps or bait. The Farnam company makes a good one called the "Bite Free Stable Fly Trap". You can find these in most horse catalogs.

Chemical fly spray will kill both types and last from one to three days. You may kill the flies that you see but you have not done anything to the breeding population and the fly you just killed may
have already laid 750-1000 eggs that will be flies in as few as 8 days!

A product called Swat is good for the ear area. It contains a pesticide in a petroleum jelly base, and last two or three day. It is pink in color and is not effective after the pink ears are gone.

The best fly management is dry clean surroundings. Using beneficial insects is a another safe effective method to get both of these fly problems under control. Fly Predators attack the breeding cycle of pest flies and stops flies from ever hatching. Using a natural insect to eliminate flies is the “green” method of fly control.

About eight years ago I started using Fly Predators from Spalding Labs and I have not had a fly problem since. The information about this product is on their website. Spalding Labs advertises in Pointing Dog Journal and Retriever Journal. Gun Dog Supply also offers them for sale http://www.gundogsupply.com.

Spalding has a new product Bye Bye Odor that is a safe way to kill odors that draw flies around kennels and horse trailers and in the house as well. I personally tested this product for two years before introducing it...IT WORKS GREAT.

Go to http://www.flypredator.com then download dog or horse booklets listed on the upper left side of the first page for more information about all types of flies and all methods of control.

[R-Heaton]

Larry,,, are you the Larry Garner of "TRACKER" fame?

[Larry Garner]

I am mostly INfamous. I am mostly famous as the sidekick of cool folks like RR of Idaho, and BH of Ohio. I am a groupie.

[Larry Garner]

Hey Ritch
Did you find this post informative...was the information helpful?

[R-Heaton]

Yea,,,, the info I think is good as well as the product. Everybody that I have talked to are big believers in the fly predators and use them year after year.