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Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
joe
what about other animals that you care about such as horses and cow's that can get Anthrax,Equine Infectious Anemia and disentary. which the stable fly (dogfly) does carry. fortunetly they don't transmit to humans.

What about those other animals? Do you guys spray the Dog Flies around the areas where the cows and horses are located? Or, do you limit your spraying to the beach, where you have no effect on the population of Dog Flies that is around the cattle in northern Florida and Southern Alabama? As I stated, it seems strange that people would rather avoid attacking the Dog Flies at the source, where there are not many people, but they are very willing to spray the masses at the beach.
 

dogflyguy

Beach Lover
Sep 24, 2007
82
6
GOP
south walton mosquitoe control never sent any body out to do dogfly counts because of the commissioners not signing the letter there was no need to do so, but by the amount of complaint calls from locals and bussinesses we,Gary D and the commissioners received i would say you had sufficient flie's to spray the label calls fo a landing rate of 3 per minute
 

dogflyguy

Beach Lover
Sep 24, 2007
82
6
Good morning joe
what you say about spraying at the source "would" be a better idea but there are many problems with that main one being if there is a north wind blowing it's too hard to pin down where the flies are at when the plane comes. plus we can't legally spray in alabama or make them spray. there are better way's too control the flies ,there are compounds you can put in cows feed to make it impossible for flies to multiply in the manure,but it's time consuming and somewhat exspensive. Also there is a wasp you can put out that will eat the larve but it is also time consuming and too much of a pain to keep up with so say the farmers and we can't make them do it!!!.. so like many things there are better ways to do things but people are unwilling to change for the sake of others. so we tried to find the fastest way to control them mostly for the sake of the tourist economic impact. locals where secondary i think. I think it's cruel to the horses and cows and would be happy if they would force the farmers to do something ,but this is america (free will) so i dont see that happening. maybe alabama and florida will make a joint task force to help the farmers with control . im looking for a job and i think those wasp's are pretty cool. did i say cool man i am old.
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
When I talk about controlling the Dog Flies at the source, spraying poisons from an airplane is not the first thing which comes to mind. We know the source of the larvae is in the poop of the cows and horses. If wasp are native to the area, and they work, they will be there naturally, otherwise, I get a little more than nervous in thinking we are smart enough to introduce predatory animals to control one other species. I don't think we look far enough beyond the information that the wasp will eat the larvae. I also understand that spraying pesticides on the grass which the cows eat, long term, it may build up in the cows, and it ends up in the beef we buy at the market. One thing is certain, there is no easy answer to control them in a manner which is safe to the environment.

I grew up on a farm, with cows, and we always had Dog Flies, when we had cows. However, they never bit. The gnats were much more disturbing. Do the farmers in the areas where the Dog Flies are concentrated have a problem with the Dog Flies biting them, or do they just live with it?
 

dogflyguy

Beach Lover
Sep 24, 2007
82
6
joe
being as you grew up on a farm you should that most farmers wear Coveralls and boots at least any farms ive worked on or been around and if you have been around dogflies very much you know that they are usally low biter's around the ankles and knees mostly so the farmer is pretty protected where as the cows are not and like any creature the dogfly will go for the easy meal first and farmers are a tough lot!!! and live with it. If your dogflies "never" bit you. you either never went out or you had only males or they were already full from the cows
 

dogflyguy

Beach Lover
Sep 24, 2007
82
6
Joe
There is only one way that is enviromentaly safe and that is to spread the manure and food silliage out so it doesn't stay wet. dogflies need moist material to breed in , but once again the farmers are unwilling to go to this very time consuming labor. lots of places use the wasp with no problems as of now except farmers not wanting to spend the money or time to ocassionally replenish them.
 
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