Buffalo Gnats Again!

[so lucky]

Any one else being assaulted by buffalo gnats this spring? We got them earlier this week. They are bothering the chickens pretty bad. I guess if the gnats remain I will set the fan up in the chicken yard so the birds can sit in front of a strong breeze. Their bites make big painful welts on me. And they go right in your ears and up your nose! I don't know how other critters stand them.

 

[seedcorn]

Don’t know what they are. Don’t want to know. KEEP THEM THERE....

 

[flowerbug]

they are otherwise known as black flies and they can be obnoxious. when i lived up north i probably donated a few gallons of blood a year to those SOBs when i was fishing the cold water streams.

all i can suggest is making sure when you go outside that you have very well fitting clothes on so they can't get in along the seams. including gardening gloves with elastic on them to seal up the wrists over whatever sleeves you have on.

since i really dislike DEET and related conconctions i didn't use them and still don't. luckily we're not really in black fly territory here, all the streams are fairly slow moving and warm water. we may get bit a few times a season but nothing like the swarms i'm used to seeing.

one spring a friend and i went up to his cabin to do some fishing and there was a lot of them about. fished, came back to the cabin, crashed out, the next morning the window was covered with several hundred of them and a lot of them had blood in them from biting us. so i made sure to kill each of them in retribution. the welts were not too bad on me, but it can be hard to not itch them and make them worse.

 

[henless]

Yep. We've got 'em here. I first noticed them about 3 years ago? They love me. The males buzz your face while the female sneaks around and bites in places that are hard to reach. They are out in the mornings here. I have about 10 bites on me now. I'll have to put on my skeeter bracelets when I go out for a while now.

 

[so lucky]

The gnats here are out all day long. I just took the dog out for a walk, sprayed myself down good with deep woods off, sprayed it into my hand and wiped my face and ears down, The gnats still buzzed around, tried to get in my ears and nose. At least I don't think I got any bites this time, so maybe the deet just made me taste bad.
The only reason the creeks are running fast around here, @flowerbug is that they are full from all the rain we've had. Usually the ones near me are slow and low.
I shouldn't complain, considering all the problems that others have. Shame on me.

 

[seedcorn]

Why are they called gnats and not flies? I’d suggest spraying your yard and chicken pen with TempoSC type product. Kill the demons when they go to ground to rest. It’s safe to humans and animals. Deadly to most insects-mosquitoes, fleas, ticks...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Look it up Seed. I did, They are called flies, Blackflies or Black flies, take your pick. Buffalo gnats is just a local name, Maybe because next to a big buffalo they look small as gnats.

Looks like a northern thing, not down here. I would not wish then on anyone, but glad we don't seem to have them. We have enough biting flying things down here as it is.

 

[seedcorn]

Black flies I have heard of.

Nawthan thing? SE Missouri is now the nawth?

 

[baymule]

I’ve had to deal with clouds of gnats in the chicken coop before. Vanilla repels them. I hung those Christmas tree yellow car air fresheners, vanilla scented, in the coop and gnats stayed away. When they got really bad, I sprayed the hens after they roosted for the night. You might try a spritz of vanilla and see if it works for you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Black flies I have heard of.

Nawthan thing? SE Missouri is now the nawth?

Down here anything north of I-20 is the north. I've heard some people argue it's I-10 but I'm not that restrictive.