like mosquitoes, female horseflies need to feed on blood before they can lay eggs. since you were running, i'd bet the quantity of blood at the surface of the skin and the CO2 made you look pretty tasty to her
like mosquitoes, female horseflies need to feed on blood before they can lay eggs. since you were running, i'd bet the quantity of blood at the surface of the skin and the CO2 made you look pretty tasty to her
yea they land on you.
X-Runner wrote:
2 miles seems like a long way to fly without stopping.
I thought they landed often.
A light colored hat w/ shoulder flaps is always a good idea. Another one that has worked for me: find a small, light, and leafy branch about 2.5-3 ft. long w/ some smaller side shoots on it — something fairly wide. Pull the lower shoots off it so that you can grip it. Then use it like a horse uses its tail. When your arm comes forward and up you just flick your wrist and swat over and behind your head. When you tire with one hand, switch to the other. If the branch is light it doesn't interfere much with running.
Bump for another summer of flies!
Befriend him. Make him your secret little buddy that only you know about. Give him a name. Maybe Steve or Jerry. Let him run with you every day until he's the fastest little guy that ever graced that forest with its presence. Don't be surprised though if one day you wake up and his sheets are lyin' there empty by your bed. He's a runner now. He's as free as a bird.
Next time I run in the woods I'll wear a painter's cap covered in sticky fly strips. I'll report back, with pics.
I think I mentioned this in another thread about deerflies, but my solution has been to hang a drier sheet half-way out of my hat in the back. I also rub it on my neck, shoulders and hat before I start my run. The smell of it must repel them somehow, because their numbers definitely decrease when I do that.
I noticed that when horseflies follow me their flight typically follows a certain pattern. They sit back and hover, following me, then make a pass at me periodically.
After noticing this, I started running looking slightly back over my shoulder, until I got the horsefly in my field of vision. Then, I would wait until it made a pass at me and, anticipating it, would smash it between my hands. Either that or stop abruptly and throw it off guard and smash it. If you are worried about being stung, don't be - horseflies bite and do not have stingers like bees.
Sure, it interrupts the run a little bit, but it's better than being followed for miles and possibly being bitten, and it is immensely satisfying.
I have found best results when I pour lemonade over my arms legs and neck then let it dry and THEN I go for a run. They must hate that stuff!
510 area code wrote:
Horse flies...just another reason the East Coast sucks. Here in the SF Bay area there basically are no bugs...no need for screens on the windows. And bug spray? I'm not even sure if they sell it here...again, no need.
Sucking on blood in SF can't be good for any species population.
Folks have a farm in central Illinois so I run a bunch down the straightest roads lined by cornfields. Last summer I was getting annihilated by deer flies. At first I tried to wave my t-shirt but those buggers are relentless.
So for my next run I cut up an old cereal box and fashioned it into the shape of a pyramid. I used some double-sided tape to hold it together and an old shoestring so i could tie it on my head.
I remember how pyramid power basically solves all problems. Not one fly harrassed me and the tape caught about 3 flies.
I run wearing the pyramid everyday now and I just set a new 5k pr.
Thou pribbling milk-livered oaf!!
Using Tangle-foot on a blue plastic bowl pinned to an old hat, I caught 93 deerlies a few years ago on an 11 mile loop. The best part is I was never annoyed as any given fly would only buzz my head maybe once then "disapear" into the glue.
Yes, uh, Horse Flies prefer moving targets, that let's them know that your alive and their willing to fight for your blood. They are agile but slow if you see them first, the best thing to do is to let them fly on you then pick them up and kill it....
JorgenJon wrote:
Yes, uh, Horse Flies prefer moving targets, that let's them know that your alive and their willing to fight for your blood. They are agile but slow if you see them first, the best thing to do is to let them fly on you then pick them up and kill it....
After three years, you pull up this thread for that post. Interesting. Good thread though.
Cape Ann Man wrote:
Those things suck. They used to follow me on this trail growing up in Massachusetts. Things that worked were wearing a hat (which I hate); when had no hat, I would wrap my shirt on my head during that trail; getting to an area with some breeze seems to work. Once in a while they would get caught in my hair and I would nail them.
We got 'em bad up here in Noo Hampshuh, too, especially down this railroad bed trail I use through the woods. (Ticks jump y'az if you stop near thick grass, too.) I wear a cap and full T and douse 'em with DEET, especially the bill of the cap. You may get skin cancer later in life and be unable to have children but it's worth it.
So it is clear that my former boss is going to come back to life as an egg-laying horse/deer fly.
malmo wrote:
Conundrum wrote:They are deer flies and we have them in NY too. I would wear a cap on backwards (not my usual look) and that would help. I found that if you ran under a 7:30 pace for a bit you would lose them..
There's no way in hell you can lose a deer fly at 7:30 pace.
They drop at about 5:30 pace.
This is pretty much right on the money, though down in Florida with the heat they may be peeled off at around 6 min pace, except that you can also lose them at a slower pace if you're on a trail with sharp turns and you hit the turns hard. Since they go after my head, I also try to get them by running right under low-lying palm and oak branches and foliage and ducking my head. That slows down the little devils. I have never once had any luck swatting them while running.
In the summer you can keep the horse flies away by putting strips of black hockey tape on your baseball cap. the black hockey tape has a very strong petroleum smell that keeps the bugs away. sometimes i put on make=up like the band
Kiss, the guy that looks like a cat, then i flap my arms around and shout out, "i'm an owl, I'm an owl'.
That happened to me quite often in Central Florida. Sometimes the fly would land on my back and give me a nasty bite.