Fighting the vicious Deer Fly!

After being mercilessly attacked last year by Deer Flies here in central Michigan I did a little research on Youtube. A guy in Wisconsin had an interesting video. He found Deer Flies are attracted to blue in particular and dark colors, and movement. He found a sticky substance to put on a blue hardhat called Bird Repellent by Tanglefoot manufactured by Contech Ind. of Victoria, BC, Canada. I used an old hardhat I had, painted it medium blue, covered it with Tanglefoot, and started mowing my lawn (2 acres) on my lawn tractor. In a short time, my hat was covered with Deer Flies. I also put some tanglefoot on my blue paper box out by my mailbox. In a short time I had over 80 dead deer flies. I also got some Tred-Not deerfly patches. These are sticky on 2 sides and you apply them to the back of your hat. My son uses them on the back of his biking helmet when he rides 18 miles mountain biking on the Potawatamie Trail just east of us by Hell, Michigan. He always comes back with the almost 6" X 2" patch covered with dead Deer Flies. These are sold by Detex, LeRoy Mich 231-832-2323. These efforts have reduced the Deerfly attacks. It seems the hotter and drier it is the more they attack. I posted this because of what RR Lund posted.

I forgot to add that I put the Deerfly patches on top of the sideview mirrors of both my pickup and minivan, and they work very well there driving slowly out of my property. Plus, SWMBO is totally disgusted about my hardhat.

Those things are interesting, some are relentless, some after a few swats go away. It sounds like they are really thick where you are, I'm not sure if the one you speak of is the house fly size with black on clear wings or the next size up in green, the latter of which I don't see a lot of, and cannot recall having been bit by one. The sticky substance is a good idea. In this area, the ones that circle your head and have black on the wings, are predictable, they seem to come out of the shade and are attracted by movement, not sure about any particular color, I thought it was the carbon dioxide like a mosquito that attracts them. If it gets cool, when they are out and in season, you won't see them. They don't seem to like being in direct sunlight, low humidity clear sunny days, it seems you can ward them off easier. Their season seems to be June, July, and they drop off significantly in August. I never see a concentration of them, I am not sure if they are territorial, or what. I know animals seem to draw more attention and thats where you will see a concentration of them. Often times I can put my hand on top of my had, let it land then slowly move my hand closer to swat it. I had one like that yesterday and I got the pleasure of feeding it to one of my turtles outside in a large wash tub/makeshift small pond. If they just start to bite, I never have a reaction, if he gets a chance to fill the tank, it can be a small welt, same with mosquitos, they don't seem to bother me so much the bites, the next day I don't notice it. I can deal with these, wear a hat, most times I can feel them land, swat etc, if thats all we had to deal with, I'd take that deal in a hurry ! Mosquitos at night most years are thick around here, you need a screened in porch or gazebo to enjoy the outdoors after dark.

What I would like to find a solution to is the black flies, gnats or similar, they are super thick this year, all that rain, before that, dry spring, we got cold enough this winter to definitely put a dent in them, but now they are just miserable to deal with.

I remember when all the fields were in use, and we had livestock, horses etc., just hedgerows, no deer flies unless you went to the woods, none near the houses, yard etc, black flies gnats, no see-ums, were few and far between. Never saw a tick back then either. Now with all the over growth, young woods, lots of deer, the insects rule at times. I noticed with the black flies and gnats, it gets cool you may get a break from them, they do not like the middle of the day direct sun, early morning, afternoons, or you get a cloud or an overcast day, they come out in full force, they are the single most hated insect around here, I wish there were more swallows and bats !

i use the trolling deer fly trap too. i use any blue jug with tanglefoot trap glue (gemplers sells it. ) old antifreeze jugs, empty oil qurt plastic bottles, or flower pots painted blue work good. mount the trap highest on whatever you are driving. deer flys are ambush predators, and are attracted by movement. they circle above and attack down, hitting the head , ears ect. i have not found any repellent that keeps em away. you can even tape a blue solo cup to your hat with some tangle foot, and it works good. looks dumb, works good. heres a couple picks of my golf cart with the traps on em.

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oh yeah, i was spraying with the golf cart. corn looks good....needs rain tho.

Just my luck that I have blue Ford tractors isn't it?
I was up at my land this weekend and spent a few hours mowing. I nust have killed a hundred of the things.

cover the tractor in tanglefoot trap glue!!! maybe you could hire out as a deer fly exterminator!!

These Deerflies are golden in color with black stripes. Today I seem to be attracting some greenbottle flies too.

Hey John,

I usually have good luck with a yellow hardhat mowing in the orchard.

The critters don't like the color or something. If I take it off they attack.

Brad

NOW you tell me. lol

Among the horse people, a spray by the name of Bite Free is the only one that has the reputation of repelling those nasty things.

We have the triangular Delta Wing green and gold ones. They are particularly thick this year. The old standby remedy was to get a hunk of canvas or denim and rig it to hang off the back of your helmet, then coat the outside with bar and chain oil. In 30 minutes it'd be covered in deer flies but your neck and ears would be bite free.

They get us bad when we move the sheep fence. The sheep are smart enough to stay in the shade and brush. Who says sheep are dumb?!

When I lived in Minnesota, we lived next to an alphalfa field. Deer flies were incredibly vicious while mowing lawn. I used Vicks Vapo Rub behind my ears and that seemed to repel them.

Thanks for the information, I'll have to try to find that Tanglefoot out here. Here in southern Nevada & southeastern California we have a very vicious horsefly called a "Tecopa Bomber". They're black & white and about 20 times the size of a common house fly (they're huge) and their bite is very painful & leaves a large welt around the area of the bite.

Doc

They arrive here, in the Mississippi Valley, in
Western Wisconsin, about July 1st, and last about
6 weeks, I read in some kind of University site
that their arrival depends on "Degree Days".
With our cold spring, they are about 2 weeks late
this year.

So I have 2 blue tractors. What do I do, paint them orange. Now that I get to see a picture of them (thank you guys with the photos) I know what you are talking about. Yes they are relentless and hurt like .....when they bite.

Mark

When I worked in Las Vegas in 2007 -2009 we used to go to Tecopa, CA and lay in the hot springs. Boy, did that feel good! The next town over was Shoshone, CA and had a small bar/rest where the hamburgers were more than the cheeseburgers. The waitress was tired of talking about it. We sure enjoyed the area.