Fly predators help with keeping down the fly population. So, duh, fewer flies means fewer flies to blanket my horse’s face. No, it does not mean you will never need fly spray again. Especially when riding, I like to use a spray/rub. I can’t expect the fly predators to migrate to wherever I may decide to ride (days in advance), no matter how many miles away it may be. Yes, there will still be flies around the barn and fields. Using the predators does, however, seem to reduce the concentration noticeably, and they’re really cool little critters to watch while they “get ready” to go.
They are an investment and not a one-time investment either. Just like fly spray, it’s something you have to keep up or it does no good. The good news is fly predators don’t require a daily, or hourly at times, commitment. How often they need to be replenished depends on a lot of stuff, and the supplier covers all that in the instructions.
In case you’re not familiar with fly predators, here’s the cliff notes. Order them from a supplier of your choice. They come regular mail in a bag, inside a box. Inside the bag (about a 5″ x 7″) is a lot of shavings and a lot of tiny little black dotlets. Some of these dots may be moving around or they may all be dormant. Lay out the bag for a few days inside the house or somewhere not too hot or cold. As they hatch or wake up or whatever, the critters begin crawling around inside the bag. When it looks like the majority are mobile, take them outside and lightly “dust” them around. It is important WHERE you dust them. Again the supplier has good instructions on the places to apply them and how many you will need for your area. It would be nice to cover the entire county with them, but not quite feasible, unless we can get a government grant. Hmmm….has possibilities. If our government can bail out supposed-idiot millionaires who pretend they can’t balance a checkbook, namely GM, then why on earth could they not provide a community service such as fly control??? Alas, I digress. Back to predators, the good kind. These critters basically feed on the fly eggs/larvae/pupae/whatever so the nasty fly eggs never produce flies to make it out into the world to annoy our horses. No we are not replacing one kind of pest with another. The predators are nocturnal and they focus on the manure where the fly eggs are incubating. So they are not interested in equines, even if the equines are available at night.