Horsefly Traps

A horsefly bite can transmit diseases in horses and that's where the concept of a horsefly trap comes in. Read the following article for ideas on making your own horsefly trap.

Have you ever noticed horses standing about? Noticed how they flick their tails to drive away those pesky flies? Those flies that they are driving away, are known as horse flies because they are usually found around horses. To get a clearer perspective, imagine how you feel when there are flies hovering all over you, sitting on your skin and lips―not a good feeling, right? But apart from the ‘icky’ feeling that they lead to, what is more dangerous is that these flies could be the carriers of varied diseases.

Horse flies are dangerous because they not only bite the horses, drawing out their blood, but in the process could also transmit varied diseases, which could prove to be fatal. Other than horses, these flies also bite humans and therefore could lead to diseases in them as well. Which is why there have to be certain steps in place to control their emergence. Unfortunately, fly sprays or other pesticides do nothing to get rid of them. And that’s exactly where the horsefly trap comes into the picture. This trap is one of the most effective ways to trap and then destroy the flies to bring about effective pest control.

Homemade Traps

The Table-Ball

1. Use an old table or a stool and attach a shiny bright-colored ball at the center of it.
2. Use a long piece of rope to attach the ball to the center so that it swings from side to side. This will ensure that the flies get attracted to the ball instantly.
3. Now, coat the rope, the underside of the table, and the flat surface with flypaper.
4. Next, swing the ball from side to side―this will attract the flies.
5. Once the flies come to the ball and realize that there is no food for them, they will fly upwards (they always fly upwards) or to the rope and will get caught in the flypaper.
6. Then simply discard the flypaper.

The Net-Ball

1. This method is just like the table-ball method (the workings, that is) except that instead of using fly paper to trap them, you need to use a plastic net. You can even use a bottle for this.
2. Take an old table or build a four-legged apparatus that has been cut into a circle in the center.
3. Next, cover the table with a thick plastic net.
4. Make sure that the net is erected into a tent shape or a square one with the help of plastic sticks and tapes.
5. The rest of the plan works in the same way as that of the table-ball.
6. Once you swing the ball, the flies will get attracted to it and then automatically fly upwards into the plastic net.
7. They will get trapped here and die of the heat in the plastic net.
8. You can keep this trap for the entire summer till the batch of flies have been captured.

It is necessary to trap the flies before the breeding season because once they do breed, the cycle starts all over again.

Along with these traps, there have been other crude methods that people have reported to have worked out. Certain pesticide sprays, for example, when sprayed on the flies, makes them drop to the ground. After which you can proceed to swat at them. But this is time-consuming and not really feasible, for if these flies get away after they have been coated with poisonous sprays, and then sit on your horse, they might inject the horse with poison.

If you don’t want to use the professional products and traps that are readily available in the market then you can always use the different types of horsefly traps that have been mentioned above. It is always better to prevent their bites rather than resorting to treatment later. And now that you know what to do and how to use these, you don’t have to worry about those dangerous flies anymore.