Biting Fly Trap

I've yet to come across anything that is convenient or effective for biting flies. You need the sticky traps to catch them and unfortunately they can't go where the horses or the cats or the dogs get into them or knock them over. So the pasture is really where I want them but can't put them so the flies are still out there biting the horses while all the butterflies and anything else foolish enough to land on it is stuck.

Flies have been attacking the tips of my dogs ears relentlessly. I had installed filth fly traps in my ignorance. Indeed, they caught masses of flies. Harmless bluebottle flies, and not biting stable flies that attacked not only my dogs but my legs as well. I went to work in researching BITING flies. Across the board, the response has been the Olson system.I spent the 22 dollars and carefully followed directions. No problems with getting sticky stuff on my hands. Installation went well.I pounded the stake 6 feet from the 20x20 puppy pen but was concerned about the inadvertent capture of butterflies or birds. So, I built a cylindrical screen to deter their demise. No flies attached themselves. But, as you can see, the screen was also shiny. Maybe the screen and not the sticky trap was attracting the flies. I bought dark green paint and sprayed it inside and out.Still no flies stuck on it.Days later... Some insects arrived but very few stable flies. But, mysteriously, flies had stopped biting my dog's ears. I tried leaving the cage off. Still few captured flies. Still no bitten ears.Perhaps the flies come sporadically and are now gone naturally, perhaps it was just the few that did get themselves stuck that were molesting the dogs, or, perhaps the trap scared them away (lol).Anyway, since a week after the trap went up, with a darkened protective screen to protect butterflies and birds, and the filth fly traps removed, no more ear damage. I rescind my original one-star grading and give it 4. So, try it.

Given the reviews, I figured I had a 50/50 shot of this trap working. I watched a video on Youtube about setting it up. Not difficult. Picked a really sunny location and after two hours, the traps caught, easily, a hundred biting flies or so. We then had rain that afternoon, and then the following 6 days after that, and it's still raining daily. Murphy's law, right? I'm not sure it the traps are as effective with rain all over them, but the tape is just as sticky as when I put it up. The traps have to be in full sun to work, and in areas where the flies are the worse. I posted mine around our horse paddocks. Now for the downside. There are only two sticky sheets per trap. You would think they could be a bit more generous than that. While it did catch biting flies, gnats and midgies, it also caught bugs that I wish it hadn't. A few pollinators and a few ladybugs. So make sure these are posted far away as possible from flower gardens and areas attracted to beneficial insects. Mine weren't anywhere near my flower garden, so I know I will not put these up near the house. I also use hanging fly bags for face flies, and I am satisfied that both non-toxic traps are doing their job. There are way fewer biting flies on my horses, and that many more not reproducing. Certainly worth a try if the biting flies are making your horses, or yourselves, miserable.

If I could give half a star I would! This is a piece of crap!!!!! It is virtually impossible to NOT get the sticky all over your hands! And then it's really difficult to get it to come together and stick on the plexiglass!!!!!!! Mine fell over in the yard before I could secure it, which is a whole different story! And it is now covered with grass!!!!! This is a waste of money and nothing but an aggravation!!!!!!! I wouldn't pay two cents for this thing! I'm just waiting to see if it gets any flies! And good luck getting this sticky mess off your hands! Make sure you have plenty of hand sanitizer or cooking oil! It's still a losing battle!!!!!

After spending $300 on the Epps Biting Fly Trap that caught nothing but honey bees, I was excited to find a cheap item like this that actually will catch the black flies that bite our horse's legs and that we are plagued with here in Georgia (the Epps did not and does not claim to). It works well, but it is very hard to assemble without getting that nasty sticky stuff all over your fingers. It is also disheartening to find that it also targets ladybugs. Because my horses are so curious, I could not keep these in the paddocks, but positioned them outside the fence.Overall, though, this is a genius design, and I'm happy to pay the price for an item that does what it purports to do.

Kept it up all summer and caught fewer flies than shown in the adverts picture. I used other bag traps and filled them within a week. We had a pretty bad fly year here in central Michigan and the Horse Flies and Deer Flies were getting awfully fat off my cattle.

I have this and the Farnam 3005363 trap set up in my yard to reduce the biting flies that bother my two basset hounds. Of the two, the Farnam biting fly trap has performed much better. There are very few flies stuck to the Olson product, while the Farnam trap has a significant amount of flies stuck to it.

This fly trap is wonderful. Every spring, we get tons of biting flies (deer flys). Until we found these traps, we used bug repellant thatrequires re-application regularly. These flies are relentless. At the end of the day, I would have several large welts on my neck, armsand head. Itched like crazy. We live in the country and my neighbors all complain about them. Since we all have a lot of trees, thesedeer flies live in the trees and seek victims including our dogs and grandkids. The traps help tremendously. Depending on the year,we often have hundreds of dead flies on each trap after a few weeks. The best thing is no poison. Also, they do not attract birds,only insects, mostly flies.