Thread: Biting flies
View Single Post
Old 08-14-2022, 06:46 PM   #21
Chickie
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 367
Thanks: 0
Thanked 67 Times in 38 Posts
Default Stable Flies

Thank you, ApS, for your post regarding the similarities and differences in the various biting flies which are prevalent throughout the Lakes Region and beyond.

As a child I spent a great deal of time at the family farm in Gilford and remember those pesky stable flies very well. My uncles kept a hand-held sprayer in the barn filled with a liquid mixture to spray their cows when those horrible creatures swarmed around tormenting them. It had a rather pungent, but not overly offensive, odor, which was a part of the “big barn smell” in those days. It was a weapon most farmers kept in their arsenals to alleviate the torture of their cattle from those flies. I believe it was purchased at the Merrimack Farmers’ Exchange in Laconia. I suspect it may have contained creosote. Meanwhile, the cows battled them with a weapon of their own, as well. They would swish their tails from side to side and over their backs as far as they could reach to try to keep them away. Yes, stable flies can deliver a painful bite and they show no mercy.
Chickie is offline   Reply With Quote