Fly control solution

Introduction

Horse flies (genus Tabanus), deer flies (genus Chrysops) and the yellow flies (genus Diachlorus) endemic to the Florida panhandle are vicious, persistent and painful biters, which feed not only of the blood of horses and deer, but also that of other mammals, including humans. Only female flies feed on blood, but, nevertheless, pierce the skin of their selected host with razor sharp mouthparts and may suck blood from the wound for several minutes. As such, they present a series risk of spreading diseases such as equine infectious anaemia, anthrax, etc. amongst the equine and human populations. According to the World Animal Health Information System, an outbreak of equine piroplasmosis - a disease causing anaemia, fever, swollen abdomen, etc. and fatal in up to 20% of cases - suspected to be carried by biting flies, affected over 350 horses in 12 states, including Florida, as recently as January, 2010.

Fly Control Around Horses

The control of flies is, unfortunately, an occupational hazard when it comes to keeping horses, but a little understanding of the nature of the pests, or pests, in question can help to reduce the problem. One of the difficulties in controlling flies is that the early stages of the lifecycle are aquatic and so cannot be eradicated without affecting other forms of aquatic life.

Controlling flies does not mean, necessarily, that you need to resort to chemical insecticide sprays, although these are, of course, an option is all else fails. Tabanid flies, in particular, are known to be attracted to dark, moving objects, so one possible control measure is to hang beach balls - painted glossy black and treated with a pyrethoid insecticide - from tree limbs, etc., so that they move to and fro in the wind. Other forms of non-chemical protection against flies include fly masks, which cover a horse`s eyes, nose and, perhaps, its ears and leg netting, which again provides a physical barrier preventing flies from biting.

Aerosol sprays containing permethrin, carbaryl and malathion can provide effective, if temporary, relief from flies if sprayed on trees, shrubs, etc. in the vicinity of horses. Repeated applications are usually required, however and a more sophisticated method of delivering aerosol insecticides involves an automatically timed spray, which mists down the stable environment and the horses in it on a regular basis.Bear in mind, however, that insecticides used to repel flies may be harmful to humans and should only be used in accordance with manufacturers` instructions.

Horse racing in Florida is, of course, hugely popular, with Calder Racecourse in Miami, Tampa Bay Downs on the west coast and Gulfstream Park on the east coast amongst the major attractions. Indeed, the increased coverage of horse racing in Florida and in North America as a whole, on satellite and cable television means that placing a bet is no more difficult than doing so on British horse racing. U.S. horse racing is similar, in many ways, to that in Britain, but does have its own idiosyncrasies and many British punters take note of racing tips from experts specialising in U.S. form before finalising their selections.